Drown in You
by LauraUriex
Summary: After realising that Ginny is not for him, Harry starts an enemies with benefits relationship with Draco Malfoy. What was supposed to be just meaningless fun soon turns into something more and both boys will have to deal with it. Luna and Ginny are really close friends, but a series of events brings them closer than ever. Could this be a romantic relationship instead? Side Romione
1. Out Of My Element

_**Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. All the characters are created and owned by J.K. Rowling, and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Harry Potter. The story I tell here is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of J.K. Rowling's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.**_

* * *

Draco was sitting under the tree in the Hogwarts courtyard. It was his favorite spot to study, he found it so relaxing. But that day in November he wasn't too focused on his transfiguration book, in fact, something else had captured his attention: Potter.

He was with his girlfriend, Ginny Weasley. He would often see them making out all around the castle and he always found it rather annoying to witness. He grimaced at the sight of it. _I can't stand them_ , he thought, _I really don't understand what he sees in her. Always kissing her and laughing with her... that bloody redhead._

He stared at them as Potter ran his fingers through her hair, eliciting a giggle from the girl. It was nauseating to watch those lovebirds, if anything. They could get a bloody room, for one.

Ginny's laugh echoed through the courtyard and Draco could have sworn that was the most annoying sound he had ever heard, even more annoying than Granger's know-it-all interventions in class. "Draco? Will you pay attention to me? I've been calling you for minutes!" Blaise's voice boomed in his ears and that was enough for him to get out of his trance. Blaise was his study buddy for the day, he was a good fella, most of the times, but he had just interrupted his deep thoughts. "What do you want?" He asked, irritated.

"We need to study! Or we'll get a horrible mark in our NEWTs. What are you... are you checking out Weasley?" Blaise asked, with a hint of laugh in his voice.

He found it so ridiculous that Draco could ever like her and he was damn right. But the boy wasn't willing to risk letting him know that he'd been looking at her for so long because he imagined himself as her.

"Oh, she's hot, totally fuckable." He said with a shrug.

If Blaise had been drinking, he would have spat the liquid out of his mouth "What? Weasley? I don't understand your.. tastes! If you liked Potter, that would be the craziest thing ever." He laughed out loud. _Oh how wrong are you, my friend,_ Draco thought.

"Potter? I'd rather sleep with bloody Gregory than Potter! You are so funny sometimes!"

Blaise gave him a disgusted look in response, but he seemed to be entertained. "So are you. Now, get to work!" He ordered.

"Ugh, Transfiguration is just _so boring_!" Draco lamented. It really was; the only subject that he truly enjoyed was potions.

If Hogwarts had only taught potions he would have been the happiest wizard on the planet. His eyes fixated back on the couple, who was now engaging in a full on make out session. This made him feel so, so jealous, though he hated to admit it, even to himself.

As Harry kissed his girlfriend he didn't feel the "sparks." Yes, she was hot and he loved her, but it just... didn't feel right sometimes. Or all the time, for that matter. He could have been kissing another girl and the feeling would have been the same.

"I need to get used to seeing Harry smooching my sister." Ron said to Hermione as they walked closer to the pair. "Oh Ron, let it go, if she's happy!" His girlfriend reprimanded him.

"Um... Harry?" Ron awkwardly called to his best friend, thus having them break the kiss. Ginny and Harry broke apart, blushing a little. Ginny was the most embarrassed one, though.

"Hi Ron, Mione!" Harry greeted them.

"And Ginny... Mione and I are going to study under the tree, if you want to come..."

"Sure!" Harry said. He mentally thanked Ron for interrupting the kiss with Ginny.

"Oh, I'm sixth year now... I don't study what you study..." Ginny said, sheepishly.

"You can study your stuff with us!" Hermione suggested. The red haired girl seemed to consider the offer for a second but then opted to do her research for the sixth year with Luna.

She said goodbye to Harry by lightly pecking him on the lips. "See you at dinner, babe. I love you." She said with a smile. "Love you Ron and Mione!" Then she left to go to the library.

"Love you too!" Hermione replied, then her attention fell on Harry. "Harry, you suck! Why didn't you say 'I love you too' to her?"

Harry didn't seem so sure of what he was saying, but he told her that Ginny knew he loved her and that he didn't need to say it all the time. Hermione and Ron looked at each other for a bit but brushed it off right away, they just made their way to the tree.

Draco looked at Ron and Hermione giggling at whatever Harry had told them, he found it so annoying that Ginny had just gone to leave her Potter seat to those two goons. "You just can't help yourself, can you?" Blaise said, thinking that his friend had been staring at Weasley's ass this whole time.

"Ah, a boy can look, no?"Draco winked at Blaise, the other boy rolled his eyes and then stopped as he saw the three friends happily walking towards their tree. "Ugh, look at the three little piggies. This is our spot and they want to steal it!"

"Let me deal with it." Draco smirked. He got up and walked closer to the trio, focusing on Potter. _So I can get close to him... Oh the way he moves those hips...That unkempt beard..._

"Get out of our spot, losers. We were here first!" Draco said to the three of them, eyes on Potter.

Hermione looked more annoyed than ever. "Get lost, Malfoy. That isn't _your_ tree and besides we can all fit there!"

"But I don't want you here, you little mudblood." The pale boy said. He was sure that the word "mudblood" was what it took to push Potter's buttons. And so, it did.

"You little git! How dare you speak to my friend like that? If you don't stop, I'll throw you in the lake!"

 _Time to play_ , Draco thought. He walked even closer to him so that he was in his face.

"I'm the one that's throwing you, Potter!" He slowly put his hands on the other boy's chest, amused at his reaction to it.

Harry looked in his eyes and apparently stopped breathing. He kept eyeing his lips and his heart was racing. They looked as though they were about to kiss. But it wasn't what Draco had in mind, since he pushed the shorter boy to the ground.

Harry fell with a loud "thud".

"Ow! Malfoy, are you crazy?" He said.

"I threw you on the ground!" Malfoy sneered.

"Ha, ha... so funny, Malfoy!" said Hermione, annoyed. She then reached down to help Harry up. "Come on, boys," she said to both Harry and Ron. "Let's go somewhere else, it isn't worth it."

"Fuck you, Malfoy!" Harry yelled at the blonde boy. All Draco did in response was smile. _Yeah, Potter, Fuck me,_ was Draco's thought.

* * *

That night, at dinner, Harry found himself lost in his thoughts as he looked over at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy sat next to his minions. All he could think of was how close he had been with him, how it seemed like they were going to kiss... He felt something weird in that moment, but he didn't dislike it.

"Aren't you in your own world, Harry!" came Hermione's voice.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. Ron was too busy stuffing his mouth with food to notice them.

"Oh um... I was just looking for Ginny..." Harry said, but Hermione must have known that it was an obvious lie.

"I saw her in the common room, she says she's too busy for dinner." Hermione explained Ginny's absence. Harry didn't feel sorry at all. He wasn't sad that his girlfriend couldn't see him.

Hermione noticed it. "If that had been Ron, I would have made sure that he would eat."

"Oh well, if she's busy she surely doesn't need me as a distraction, no?" Harry promptly responded.

"Mmm, do come around, though... and um.. avoid those things with Malfoy, possibly."

"What with Mal- what?"

"Those little discussions that are somewhat... hot."

"Oh, but he's the one who pushed me to the ground!"

Draco was very amused. He had totally fooled Potter into thinking that he would have kissed him... oh, that poor naive soul. At least now he had it, the confirmation that he was totally into him as well, despite him being with Weasley.

"You just control yourself ok? Don't want Ginny to be hurt... think of how Ron would react..." Hermione warned Harry, who just acted vaguely in response.

"I don't know what you need to worry about!" he simply said.

 _Oh, damn, Hermione knew of my reaction to Malfoy's thing today.._. Harry thought.

"Come on, it is obvious, Harry. Ron hasn't noticed yet...but we both know him. Just focus on _your girlfriend_ , ok?" Harry nodded at that.

* * *

"What you looking at, Draco?" Said Pansy, as she noticed that her friend was looking directly at the Gryffindor table.

"Nothing." He replied.

"Were you checking out Granger?"

"None of your business."

"Anyone but me, uh, Draco? " Pansy whined. She has always had a crush on him and found it rather unfair that he would go checking out everyone else but her.

"I told you, Pans, you're like a sister to me." The boy grinned. She snorted. Sometimes he'd feel bad about this, but there was no way that he and Pansy would ever get together. Also, he couldn't tell her why. The whole school would have known faster than he could say "Potter."

* * *

"Potter!" Draco's voice called.

"What now, Malfoy?" Harry said in an annoyed voice. Damn him. Couldn't he just leave him alone for once? What did he want from him now?

"You're really disgusting, did you know that?"

"That'd be you, Malfoy." Harry replied sassily. Oh, how he loved his sassy come backs at Malfoy. He couldn't hurt him, really.

"Yeah, that's not what you felt earlier today when you thought I was going in for a kiss, eh?"

Ugh, that smirk, how he detested it. He scoffed, hoping he wouldn't see through him and know that, yes, he'd expected a kiss. "I would _never_ kiss you."

Draco laughed. "Oh yeah, sure, you really can't lie, Potty." The taller boy shook his head and then moved closer to him and put his arms around his neck, this time. "Let's see if you hate it so much." And then he kissed him. Harry's eyes widened, he was surprised. After a few seconds he let himself go and dived into the kiss, too. It felt so good, so right... But it's Malfoy! The voice in his head said. But he didn't want to care, he just wanted to feel those lips on his.

After that, he woke up sweating. "Oh no..." It was only a dream and Harry hated himself so, so much for it. How could he just have dreamed of snogging Malfoy, of all people? And how could he let himself like it? It was just his mind playing games, cause there was no way that he could ever think those things in real life. He could only hope that he hadn't made a sound during his sleep. He was wrong.

"Dreaming of Malfoy, eh?" Ron's voice almost startled him. He looked at his best friend, who was sitting on his bed, giving Harry a blank stare. Oh shit, he had talked in his sleep. He didn't know what to say now, but he was certain that Ron would have killed him.

"Well..."


	2. They Were One

Chapter Warning: Boy on Boy. NSFW.

" Look, it might come as a shock to you, given I'm not the brightest wizard there is, but, Harry... I'm not blind, I saw what happened today. It looked as if Malfoy was about to kiss you... and you didn't seem too mad about that." Ron said. Crap, what now? There was no way Harry could lie his way out of it. He wished that Ron and Hermione hadn't been there to witness that 'incident'.

"Ron, look, I..." Harry began, but his friend interrupted him. "I wouldn't care if you were gay, Harry, but if you are to fool my sister... this is where I'm not fine with it." His voice was stern, Harry had never heard his mate speak like this to him before. He must have been very angry.

The younger boy took a deep breath. "I'm not fooling her into anything, Ron..."

"You aren't? Well, what do you call being with my sister, but at the same time having wet dreams about Malfoy? And don't deny it, I heard you say his name in your sleep!" he was speaking loudly now, risking to wake up the other three room mates. "Keep quiet, Ron...Look, I don't know what I feel for Ginny, ok?" There, he said it. "So you're using her? It'd make more sense if you broke up with her and told her that you're about as straight as Hermione's hair!"

"Maybe you're right." Harry considered, "Maybe I should break up with her..." He wondered why he'd never had this thought before. Did it really make sense to be with someone he didn't like?

"Yeah, good idea. She's not that happy with you... she confessed that she didn't feel wanted by you lately... or ever. She said she doesn't feel like you are attracted to her."

Poor Ginny, she was right... He had never been attracted to her. And he may have known why... he was actually gay. Made sense.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow..." Harry reassured his friend. He surely didn't want to be hated by him. He knew how protective Ron was when it came to his sister. He shifted uncomfortably in his bed, hoping that this conversation would end as soon as possible.

"Good. Night, Harry." Said his best friend. He then lay down and turned to face the wall. That hadn't been an easy talk and boy, was Harry glad that it was over. He closed the drapes on his bed and stared at the ceiling. But as he looked down, he noticed a small problem he had forgotten about. Consequence of his dream, of course. Sighing, Harry opened the drapes, got up and made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

Next morning, Harry met up with Ginny in the common room before breakfast. It had been their routine every day for so far.

Harry felt gut wrenching guilt as he looked at the girl walking happily towards him. He was about to rip her heart in a million little pieces... He would have watched her fall apart, helplessly. But this had to be done. He needed to man up and face this. He was a Gryffindor, after all, and Gryffindors didn't know fear.

Ginny rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Morning love!" She leaned in to kiss him but Harry wouldn't let her. She was puzzled at this. "Look, Ginny... I need to tell you something..." Harry took a deep breath... why did it have to be so hard? Why couldn't he be a cruel man and give zero fucks about Ginny? No, he had to be fond of her. Damn him. "What?" his now future ex asked cluelessly. Here it comes..."I don't... know... if I really... love you..." He murmured. He was visibly shaking now. "You're kidding, right?" Ginny said while pushing him away quite violently.

"No, I realized that there is no... spark... between us, I-"

"There's another girl, right? Is this why you were so distant? I thought it was the NEWTs pressure!" She was screaming at this point. Of course she would think that he was cheating on her. The dream didn't count.

"Oh no, it's not a girl! It's complicated... It doesn't seem fair to you that I should be with you if I don't love you, right?" Try as he might, he couldn't calm her down.

"Who is this whore you're screwing, huh? Is it Luna? Is it Cho? That little..." Ginny kept raising her voice, her face was red and she was a bit sweaty, she was down right infuriated.

"Please Ginny, it's no one! Please calm down..." He tried to reassure her, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Calm down? I'm not calming down for shit, you piece of crap! How dare you cheat on me? After all I've done for you! I'll turn you into a beetle and I'll set fire to your body-"

"Ginny, stop!" the boy grabbed her wrists, but she quickly squirmed away and planted a sound slap on his cheek. He totally deserved it, in his opinion. "Don't. Touch. Me!" This said, she ran off.

She had the worst luck when she bumbed into none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Weasley, watch your steps! Where are you going, all sad? Trouble with Potty?"

"Oh get lost, Malfoy!" She shouted at him and then kept on running. She was crying freely.

Draco wondered what might have happened between the happy couple, and he couldn't help smiling at that. Ah, finally they were crashing. This meant that his chances of seducing Potter were becoming more and more.

* * *

"Can you explain to me why Ginny is so distraught?" Hermione asked, given that Ginny was sitting at another table, looking visibly upset. It wasn't like her to sit far away from them at Breakfast.

"Tell her, Harry." Ron said in that same stern voice from the night before. Harry gulped. "Well, Mione... I've just broken up with her... But she didn't take it that well..." Harry said as he looked at his now ex. Hell, she had taken it quite horribly.

"Oh, poor thing, I'll have to check on her later." said Hermione in a sad tone.

"Won't you tell her why you broke up with her, mate?" Ron wouldn't have any of his shit, it seemed.

And so Harry told her all about it. Hermione wasn't the least bit surprised. "It was not a girl, but it was Malfoy." she shook her head. "Who is a ton times worse."

"Hell, he even had a dream about the bloke, didn't you, Har?" Ron said to his grilfriend, who gasped. "Wow, this is serious.. look, if you're gay... I'm down with it. But if it's with Malfoy... I'm not. He's a prick!"

"I'm confused, Mione... But don't worry, there's no chance I'll ever be with Draco."

At the Slytherin table Draco was smiling his brightest smile. "Ah, Blaise, don't you think today is a wonderful day?"  
Blaise looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you drunk?"  
"No, I'm just... Happy.. seems like Potter's having trouble in paradise...and I do enjoy seeing that baboon suffer!"  
"Aren't you a bit obsessed with him?" Blaise observed. "I just hate him so much." Draco responded with a shrug. Oh, Blaise was so right, for once. He was becoming obsessed with Potter, not that he hadn't been in the years before this.

* * *

Later that day, Draco found himself sitting under his precious tree, alone for once. Not that he loathed having someone to keep him company, but damn, it felt so good to be alone, sometimes. Just as he began to bask into this much needed 'me time' he heard footsteps coming his way. Ugh, why couldn't he just spend a few minutes undisturbed? He looked up to see who the loser was, only to see his crush staring back at him. "Hey." Potter said, looking a bit uneasy. Nevermind the me time, this would be so much better. "I'm not a broken hearts club, Potter, I'll have you know that. I see you're falling out a bit with Lady Weasley, eh?"  
"None of your business... And I wanted to talk about something else..."  
"I'm all ears."  
"Well, yesterday... Don't act like you didn't fool me into thinking you'd kiss me."  
Took him long enough. Ah, his day just kept getting better and better. He wanted to smirk, but decided to play along a little. "Oh come on Potter, did you really think I'd kiss you?" He gave him his best impression of a disgusted face and walked closer to him. He now felt his rival's shaky breath on his face and he loved just the effect he had produced.  
"Sure you would." Harry sounded pretty convinced of that. Something about this talk reminded him of his dream from the night before. It felt like it was coming to reality.  
He shuddered as Malfoy continued talking. "Well, what can I say? I hate you, Potter, I really do... But damn me, and much as I hate myself for this... I can't stop thinking of fucking your brains out." Draco said in a raspy voice. His eyes were darkening by the second and that was too much for Harry to handle. "Draco... Screw you." He said as he attacked his lips with his own. The kiss felt exactly like it did in his dream. It was all kinds of good. Maybe it was a bit more raw than what he had imagined, but still. Draco was now tugging at his tie, making the kiss even hotter, if that was even possible.  
They didn't know how long their kiss had lasted, but, as they broke it, they were both out of breath and gasping for air. "I guess this is what you wanted to tell me about." Draco smirked. Harry glared at him before grabbing his shirt and pushing him in a second, more passionate kiss. And in that moment, Draco's brain refused to work.

* * *

"I'd say this was a mistake." Said Harry, as they had fallen silent after their second kiss. Draco rolled his eyes. "You're the one who launched yourself at me, Mr 'this was a mistake'!"  
"You teased me into it." The dark haired boy stated.  
"And you couldn't resist, huh? Tell you what, meet me at the Room of Requirement tonight at 10 o' clock... I can show you incredible things. But no one must know, or you're dead."  
Harry didn't need to hear it twice to approve of this arrangement.

Not long before dinner Harry found himself in the library with Hermione, telling her of had just happened. He watched her eyes widen with what looked like shock together with disappoint. "You made out with Malfoy? I can't believe it... You broke up with Ginny today!" "Shh, Hermione! No one needs to know!" Harry tried to shut her up. "I don't know if you realize just how full of shit you are! I'm gonna tell Ginny. And Ron. You're dead." Just as the girl turned around to leave the room, Harry grabbed her arm. "Oh please, no!" "Do you ever think before acting?" She said as she broke free from Harry's grip. "This is the same guy that gave me shit for being a muggle born!" "Mione..." Harry began. He was beginning to think that it wasn't a bad idea to have kissed Malfoy, it was a terrible one. "Don't call me that." Hermione said in a furious tone and rushed out of the room, leaving Harry there. Was Malfoy really worth losing his best friend over?

At dinner, things didn't seem to ease up for the two of them.

Ron immediately noticed that Hermione wasn't eating anything. "What is going on here?" He asked her. Buy what he got in response from her was a "Mind your business!"  
"What did I do now?" He asked. It had to be about him, it was most of the time. "I'm just not hungry. I'll go to bed. If you'll excuse me." That said, she rose to her feet and left without saying no more. "Girls." Ron said to his best friend, who gave him a fake smile.

As Harry made his way to the Room of Requirement, he was more than certain that he would have refused to have a go at Malfoy's sexual games. "Ah, here you are, Potter!" His rival greeted him with a smile as he approached him. "Look, Malfoy... I don't know if I...can." "What? Can't you see how much potential there is between us? The fire.." "I do, but, it will never work." Draco knew what Potter was playing at. He wanted to be in a cute relationship filled with flowers and chocolates. "Potter, I'm no boyfriend type. Right now all I want to do is shag you. Tell me if you don't want the same thing, and I'll leave you alone." He said this knowing that, now that he had him under his spell, the other boy wouldn't have done that. "I can't tell you that.' Potter said. He had no doubt about it. "Good, then after you."

Not a minute after they had entered the room, Malfoy was already pushing Harry on the king size bed that the Room of Requirement had produced. The Slytherin straddled him, then he kissed him. This kiss felt even more incredible than their previous ones, if that were possible.

Harry let out a soft moan, which indicated to Draco that he was ready for his tongue to enter his mouth. Harry's thoughts were fuzzy, he felt like his brain was being attacked by one of those spirits that Luna warned him so much about. He opened his mouth, letting Draco's tongue in.

Both tongues were swirling around each other like dancers, sending the two boys to heaven.

Then Draco broke the kiss, licking his way to Harry's neck. "Oh..." Harry whispered. It felt so good, better than anything with Ginny had ever felt. The taller boy hummed as he sucked on his neck, thus making him even more aroused. Draco was now unbuttoning his shirt, so painfully slow, Harry observed. He then removed it and traced his body with his hands, from the neck to the lining of his pants.

He smirked at sight of Harry's hard on and proceeded to cup his crotch through his jeans.

The black haired boy gasped. "You like that, uh?" asked Draco in a raspy voice.

"Ah..." Harry managed to say. Malfoy was now removing his jeans, just as slowly as he had done with the shirt. Then it was time to remove his boxers.

"Tell me, how much do you want me, Potter?" Draco purred, as he clutched Harry's member with his hand. "Oh f-for the l-love of Merlin!" Harry whimpered. "I want you so b-bad!"

"I had no doubt." the grey eyed boy said, stroking him faster. Harry arched his back in pleasure, gripping on the sheets. That was it, he was so, so close.

"No, not yet." Draco breathed. He then stopped what he was doing and rolled around the bed, then went on to remove his own shirt. He was no longer on top of Harry, but he was now positioning himself on all fours. "I want you to fuck me, Potter."

The other boy nodded frantically. He pressed his body on Draco's backside, causing him to flinch with anticipation. "Oh, yeah..." the blonde whispered. He gripped his hips firmly, then he took his pants and boxers off, exposing the boy's ass to the cool air. His eyes fell on a bottle that had conveniently appeared on the bed, lube. He dipped a finger in its liquid and then slipped it in the other boy's entrance. "Oh, Potter!" Draco cried out. Harry smirked as he added another finger, which made Draco whimper loudly. "Oh! Fuck me!"

"Beg me." Harry growled, pulling his fingers in an out of Draco. "Oh please, please! I need you inside me!" Draco moaned.

Harry was happy to comply. He slammed himself into him, earning a scream of pleasure. He moved, slowly at first, then he quickened his pace. "Oh f-fuck, yes!" _This is what heaven must feel like_ , Harry thought. It felt better than anything he had ever done in his life. This is what the fuss was all about. As shocks of pleasure pervaded his body, he thought that there was no place he'd rather be. He was perfectly fine inside of his arch enemy.

But what sent him over the edge were Draco's moans, together with the knowledge of the fact that he was enjoying this just as much.

Draco came with a loud moan and then he fell flat on his stomach. Not much after, Harry came, too, and collapsed on top of him.

And it that moment, they were one.


	3. Dive Right In

Throughout the last month Draco and Harry found themselves sneaking off to the Room of Requirement for their little sexual encounters.

It was almost every night. Harry didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, the sex was good, but it was all there was. Just mindless hate sex.

On the other hand, he was far from a reconciliation with Hermione. She knew of his 'Malfoy Escapades' and she wasn't in any way willing to accept them. She felt as if she had been betrayed.  
Ron was kept in the dark when it came to their fall out, but he had had enough of watching the two most important people in his life grow apart for no apparent reason, so that early December morning at breakfast he decided it was time for them to tell him why they were acting so ridiculously.  
"Will you two please tell me what's been going on in this past month?" he asked. Not that he expected a response right away.  
His girlfriend turned around to face him and with a death stare she finally spoke. "Ask him, if you want to know."  
So he asked him.  
"Let it go, Ron. Your girl here doesn't understand." Harry replied. It was clear she didn't.  
That was when Hermione began fuming. "OH I don't Understand? Tell me, what's there to understand in such betrayals?"  
Now Ron was more confused than ever. "Guys-" he tried to say, but the other two kept interrupting him. "If you're not fine with it, then it's your problem! You're too busy criticizing and judging that you don't see that people do change!"  
The girl scoffed. It was true, though. She wasn't willing to change her mind on Draco, and she wasn't even trying. "I'm just looking out for myself and you! You're such a fool, Harry! Do you really want to ruin a friendship because of that piece of trash? So much for being a Gryffindor! You should have ended up in Slytherin!" It was Harry's turn to scoff. Ron didn't know what to do, he was going a little crazy as he couldn't keep up with all their fighting. "You know damn well that I need this to know who I am! And it's merely physical!" Harry shouted. Now Ron was done. "What the hell is going on?" He finally snapped. The two seemingly ex friends stopped their ruckus and looked at him. They were both panting. "Our 'friend' here has been shagging none other than Draco Malfoy! And he's taking this so lightly!" Hermione said in a bitter tone, puffing a little. Ron's eyes widened. "What? You said you wouldn't!" He was angry. _Of course he was,_ Harry thought. He had to agree with his girlfriend if he didn't want trouble with her. _Grow_ _a_ _mind_ of _your own_ , _mate_.  
"I thought you'd get this, out of all people! You're supposed to be my best friend! And it's not like we're dating or anything." Harry said. Was it really so hard to understand that he was just exploring?  
"If it's just for the sex you could do it with anyone, no? Not necessarily with Malfoy!"  
Ok now Harry wasn't so sure that he was just exploring. "I could end this right now, but I like him!" He shouted.  
Both his friends were undoubtedly appalled. Hermione took a deep breath. "Look, Harry... You're inevitably going to fall in love with him, I know you. But don't come running to me when he breaks your heart in two." She said calmly. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but then changed his mind. He simply got up and then went to sit at the Ravenclaw table next to Luna.  
"You'll regret it!" Ron shouted at him as he sat.  
Luna was confused at the sight of a pissed off Harry sitting next to her. "Oh hi, Harry, why are we glaring at Ron and Hermione? Are the nargles behind it?" She asked him in her usual dreamy voice. He simply nodded.

That night Harry went to the Room of Requirement as he'd done those past nights. As soon as he and Malfoy entered the room, the blonde boy was already trying to remove his clothes. Harry stopped him. "Wait, I don't know if I feel like it tonight." He said, looking down. Draco looked at him with widened eyes. "Don't tell me you're still thinking of Weasley?"  
Harry shook his head. "No, it's just.. Hermione found out about us... and she's giving me shit for it."  
"She knows? How? Oh God, she's not gonna tell on us, is she?" The pale boy was now panicking. "Oh she saw us once... she's not gonna tell anyone, don't worry. It's just... She's getting under my skin!" Harry let out a frustrated sigh.

"To be honest, I'm surprised she even knows how to use magic, given her background..." Draco said with a shrug. Harry gave him a look. Oh, of course he would use one of his 'mudblood remarks' now. "Please, Draco. Don't. I know that this whole _mudblood hater_ thing was just a charade that you had to keep up for your father."

Draco just looked down. It wasn't a lie, all his life he'd always had to do things that would please his father. His family background was responsible for his bullying and taunting throughout his Hogwarts years. All he wanted was to make his father proud. It's not like he had a choice, whatsoever. He didn't feel like digging deep into the intricacies of his family life, not in that moment. So he changed the subject. "The point is, she doesn't accept this thing between us, so what? It's not like we're married. But if you think I'm not worth it, well, you can leave and go find some other guy to screw."

Harry didn't leave the room. He was really, really falling head over heels for this boy. His arch enemy. He wasn't really able to process this without having an internal panic attack.

"I do think it's worth it... Draco, you're so different now, after everything that went down last year and...I feel like I'm growing attached to you...I like you and I wish I could do more with you than just meaningless sex." Draco was a bit taken aback at this. "Potter, I told you. I'm not the boyfriend type."

This wasn't what they had established. Draco mentally shivered. He had never been in a relationship before, he had always opted for friends with benefits.

But he had to admit that being with Potter wasn't so bad, after all.

"Because you're afraid. But you shouldn't care. Fear is what turned you into a death eater in the first place. You have to react! I'm almost giving up a friendship for this, because I want to be with you! I always felt something strange for you... now I know that there was a lot more behind our rivalry ."

Draco's fear was, indeed, what usually pushed him to make the worst decisions. "I'm not afraid, I just don't like you in any way other than physically, you're arrogant-"

"I know, but our rivalry is what brings us together! When I look at you, I see myself. All this repressed anger... I've been through that. Feeling like you don't belong... but with you it's different. With you I belong." Harry interrupted him. There wasn't much Draco could say to this. It was beautiful. Maybe he was right, he could have just dived in this new thing, for all that mattered. But he was Draco Malfoy, after all. He couldn't just fall in love... or could he?

"During this past month," Harry continued. "I found myself letting go of that ancient hate I felt for you. I guess it was there because we'd never got to resolve the sexual tension between us..."

Draco kept silent, still. Harry had a point. "I need you, Draco. Like you need me. Not just physically."

Harry was definitely waiting for the blonde boy to say something. He thought about it for a few seconds and then decided to fall head first into this. "Potter, I wish I could say that I want to end this, but I don't. I feel so scared because everyone here hates me...And I'm not good at relationships, as I am toxic. But I feel so many things for you now and... I hate myself for it. So much."

"Then let's do this!" Harry said, quite excitedly. He reached for Draco's hands and held them in his own. "I'm messed up, too. See, we complete each other."

"I'll warn you, though. I'm not gonna use those pet names Gryffindors are so fond of. Clear?"

Draco looked at their hands. He stroked the other boy's back of his hand and gave him a smile.

"Clear." Harry responded. They both felt incredibly ecstatic as they dived right into their first official boyfriends kiss.

* * *

"Oh, Luna, it's been a month and I still have no answers..." Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. She was with her best friend, Luna, in the library to study for a project, but she couldn't focus on it as her brain was haunted by the possible reasons for her break up with Harry. Plus it was getting quite late and she started feeling tired.

"Maybe it's the nargles that made him change his mind about you..." Luna said in her absent tone. "Maybe it is them... I really don't have a clue... He was so distant..." Ginny said, she then buried her face in her hands.

"Ginevra, I think the nargles might have made him fall in love with someone. But I don't think it's a girl." Luna murmured.

"So you're telling me he's gay? It would make sense... I mean we never did anything uh... special... in almost two years of dating...But... who?" Ginny stopped to think. Who could have stolen her man? Maybe Neville? "Might it be... Neville? Oh, Luna, we need to get to the bottom of this." Ginny said. She swore to herself that she would find out who had corrupted Harry's mind into breaking up with her, but there were so many guys in Hogwarts... she just didn't have a clue as to who that might have been.

* * *

The morning after Draco woke up in Harry's arms. He was confused at first, but then recalled what had happened the night before. He had agreed to a relationship with none other than Harry Potter. If a year ago anyone had told him that he'd ever become his boyfriend, he would have laughed in their face. But there he was, all cuddled up with him. He couldn't believe this. After years of this crush that had made him hate himself so much, he was finally with him.

 _But what would father say, if he ever found out?_ He thought. _He'd probably disown me. And Blaise... he'd make my nights a living hell. I wonder if this is the right thing..._

His trail of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of Harry's light snoring. As he turned his head to look at him, he wondered if there was anything cuter than that in the whole world.

What was he doing, thinking Potter was cute? He had said it himself: they wouldn't be a cute couple. But what could he do about it? He was still incredulous, he thought that maybe it had just been a dream and it played tricks on his mind, making him think that he had woken up while he was still asleep...

His now boyfriend opened his eyes slowly and Draco squealed a little internally.

"Good morning, Draco. I see you're awake." Harry said with a smile. "Good morning, Harry."

The green eyed boy gasped a bit. "What?" Draco asked. He turned his head to see if anything was off throughout the room. "You just called me Harry! Oh God!"

Oh. Draco formed an 'O' with his mouth at the realization. This was the first time, ever, in which he had called him by name. And it felt kind of weird. But a good kind of it.

"Well, you're my boyfriend now."

"Boyfriend." Harry repeated with a smile. He really liked the sound of the word, it seemed.

"Oh Crap! What time is it?" Draco said. He sat up suddenly. "Tempus!" He muttered and gasped as he read '10:00am'. "Oh no, Draco! We missed our first classes! And we'll be late for potions!"

They must have slept in. Harry face palmed and Draco did the same, just mentally.

"They can't see us coming in together... they'll get suspicious."

"I don't think so. Last time I checked it, people saw us as two deadly enemies. They'll just think we had one of our duels, if anything." Harry said. Well, that much was true. So they hurried to the potions class. Hungry and with their hair unkempt, but there was not much time. Not that Harry minded the hair part, anyway.

As they reached the classroom, they were greeted by a smiling Slughorn.

"Let me guess, you two engaged in one of your morning duels?" Harry and Draco just looked at each other. "Take a seat, now. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, or I would have removed a bunch of points."

They didn't sit close to one another. Blaise looked at Draco quizzically and the blonde boy simply shook his head. Harry didn't go sit with Ron and Hermione, he sat next to Neville.

His best friends looked at each other in a knowing look. Hermione shook her head. "They were totally shagging." Ron said in his girlfriend's ear. She nodded. "He didn't sleep in our dorm, this totally confirms it." He added.

"Draco, what's up with you? Being late for potions? And also, where were you all morning?" Pansy asked the blonde boy. "Nowhere you should care about." He responded. She gave him a look that expressed that maybe she knew more than he thought. He froze in his tracks as she said: "I know what you did. And soon everyone else will know."


	4. Lost, But Now I Am Found

"No! Are you out of your mind?" Draco said to Pansy in a loud whisper. How had Pansy found out about him and Harry? Had little miss Perfect AKA Granger tipped her off? It had to have been her. Draco felt like fainting in that moment. His heart was beating so fast that he could feel it in his neck.

"Ah ha! There really is something, then! And I will make sure to find out!" Pansy sneered.

Draco felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders. So Pansy didn't know what was really going on. But the problem persisted: she still knew something was up and, knowing her, she'd be well determined to know what Draco had been hiding all along. He couldn't let that happen, that would have ruined his life.

"You just mind your business." He said in a menacing tone. This wasn't the first time he told Pansy that. He wondered if ordering her to stay out of his business was a way to make her even more interested in that matter.

The Slytherin girl looked like she had been slapped across the face. "No, Draco, I am done! I will get to the source of your strange behavior and everyone else will know, too." Having said that, the girl went back to her cauldron. "You just try." Draco said, more to himself than to her.

So, it was obvious that something was off with him, at least to those around him. Surely Blaise had informed Pansy of Draco's continuous absence in their dorm, the bastard. There was no chance, though, that they could ever know the truth, unless Granger woke up one day and decided to sing like a bird. _No, she wouldn't do this to her best friend_ , Draco reassured himself.

* * *

That afternoon, at lunch time, the new couple decided to use their meeting place for something different: a date.

The Room of Requirement didn't fail to deliver expectations. There was a table, dressed in a very elegant table cloth, an emerald green one that sported a Slytherin patch.

On top of the table lay two scarlet and gold plates, suggesting Gryffindor. At the center of the piece of furniture stood a large bottle of butterbeer , whose label said 'for the happy couple, Draco and Harry'. Both glasses had the Hogwarts crest printed on them. Next to the bottle were two lit candles, both vanilla scented, which were white with golden finishings.

Draco noticed that the whole room was decorated with Gryffindor and Slytherin flags, so much so that it looked like a Quidditch match was in order. There were also paper hearts and petals scattered all over the floor and table. The chairs were two large maroon poufs with the Hogwarts crest sewed on. He mentally applauded the room and its creator for the artsy view.

"It looks cool, doesn't it?" Harry observed with a smile. Draco nodded. The younger boy put his arm around his shoulder and massaged it a little. Draco wasn't used to affection, but he relaxed immediately. He had been stressed all morning because of Pansy and this surely felt nice, so he proceeded to hold the hand on his shoulder. They stood like that for a while, the time it took for the food to appear. When it did the pair went to sit on their poufs. Harry sank too deep into his, so Draco had to help him up. It all ended with a laugh and a 'thank you' kiss.

The food they ate was a little different than what the elves usually offered, it was burgers. In all his 18 years of life Draco had never had a burger before, it sounded too muggle-like for him.

Harry must have noticed the boy's puzzled expression at the sight of it, given he chuckled softly. "Oh, don't look at it like that- I can assure you, it's really good. I asked the elves to make us this special muggle delicacy- and a cheap one, too- so that our first date could have a bit of my old traditions, hoping to deliver a new one for you... and to introduce you to Muggle food, really." he added, smiling. Draco gave him half a smile, he wasn't too convinced, but changed his mind the moment he bit into his burger. Harry enjoyed looking at his boyfriend digging into his food, emitting some moans of pleasure. "This is afmafing!" Draco said in a muffled tone and it reminded Harry of Ron whenever food was put in front of him. The messy haired boy grinned. "Told you you'd like it."

"Harry..." Draco said after he had done eating, "I'm so glad that I got to share this experience with you."

Harry blushed and felt all warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't know if it was the effect of all the butterbeer he had consumed, but he sure felt good.

"You see, sharing is better than bullying." he said, taking Draco's hand in his own.

"Ah well, I only did it so I'd get your attention... Always been a sucker for that." Draco said with a grin.

"I know." said Harry.

"Took you long enough to realize, eh? Only 7 years." Draco said, shaking his head.

"But it was worth it, I'd say."

Draco nodded in response, then went in for a kiss. It was the sweetest of their kisses, so far.

Their peace and quiet was interrupted by a faint sound in the distance, it was footsteps. Someone was approaching the Room of Requirement.

"Mmm, weird, it won't open... I guess someone is inside." said a soft voice at the other side of the wall. The boys thanked the law of the Room, which prevented anyone from stepping foot inside of it if it were full and they didn't know the reason why.

"I think someone's outside." Draco observed as they broke the kiss.

"Who might that be?" asked Harry, alarmed.

It was definitely a girl, as the voice suggested. It was slow and a bit dreamy. There was no more doubt as to who that was when Harry heard the words "crumple horned snorkacks".

"Oh, that's just Luna." Harry said, not that Draco was much relieved.

"I wonder who that might be?" Luna asked herself, then twirled around.

"What the hell is Neville doing in your room now?" an annoyed Hermione asked her boyfriend.

"Oh come on, babe, why do you care? The Room of Requirement is much bet- oh, Luna!" Ron awkwardly greeted the girl, who stopped twirling around to run to the couple.

"Oh, hi guys! Looking for a place to make love?" Luna asked as it were an innocent question.

Oh, Luna and her uncomfortable truths. Both components of the pair blushed furiously, although Ron was the reddest one. "Um... what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, avoiding the question. "Needed it for nargle studies. But can't, it's occupied." Luna said with a shrug.

Hermione smirked, then she turned to her boyfriend. "I think I might know just who is in there..."

"Who?" Ron asked, clueless

"Dunno. Gotta go, have fun, guys!" Luna said, then she hopped out of sight.

"I think Harry is in here with Malformed." said Hermione.

Draco and Harry froze in their tracks.

"They must have used the room for something...uh... romantic...like a date." Hermione said in her usual know-it-all voice. The door finally appeared on the wall and Hermione displayed her most triumphant smile. "Ah ha!" she gracefully pulled the door open and entered the room, followed by an astonished Ron. Harry and Draco stood before them, both with their faces pale, as though they had seen a monster.

"Well, well, well, look who's here!" said Hermione, still smirking.

"What do you want, Hermione?" Asked Harry in an annoyed tone.

Hermione shook her head as she walked closer to him. "Just can't help yourself, now, can you?"

"You told me I was a piece of shit, well, let me be one! And besides, why do you care if I'm here on my first date with Draco?" Harry snapped. Really, why did they have to be so nosy in his things? They had called him an asshole just a day before and now there they were, interfering with his blissful date.

"You were both late for potions and arrived at the same time because you spent the night together, didn't you?" Hermione simply said, not dropping her very, very infuriating smirk.

"I'm sorry, Granger," Draco intervened. "What do you care if we spent the night together?"

"Good, you didn't call me a mudblood, for once." Hermione observed. "Well, it just so happens that Harry is our best friend."

"Don't make me laugh, Hermione." Harry scoffed. How could she proclaim him their 'best friend' after she had spent a whole month giving him the cold shoulder over something so futile.

"You haven't said a word to me in a full month. And Ron's opinion doesn't differ from yours."

Harry let out. All he wanted in that moment was to be left alone. He didn't need another one of those mom-like scoldings Hermione was so fond of.

But the scolding never came. "Look, Harry," Hermione began, "I made a mistake. I was wrong and selfish. I should have accepted it from the beginning. I'm really sorry for what I called you and for how I acted... I shouldn't have made it about me. I mean, it's your life, Harry..."she smiled when she saw that Harry and Draco were holding hands, that meant they were a couple now. "I love you, Harry, and I want you to know that, even if I'm not so thrilled about this... I'm still happy for you. All that matters to me is your happiness." As she said the last line, Harry noticed that his friend's eyes were beginning to water. She had finally seen the light and he couldn't help smiling about it. He pulled her into a tight hug and as he did so he realized how much he'd missed Hermione's hugs. She hugged back just as tightly, burying her face into his neck. "I'm sorry too, Mione... I should have known you would have reacted like this."

"I'm sorry, too, Harry." came Ron's voice, then he joined the hug. Draco felt a bit out of place as he witnessed this touching reconciliation. They looked like they really cared about each other. He wondered how it felt to actually have friends. It must have a been a very beautiful thing.

He smiled awkwardly. There was really nothing else he could do.

"Well, Malfoy... um... Draco.." Hermione said as she pulled away. "I guess we need to establish a truce." She extended her hand for him to shake.

"I'm sorry I called you a mudblood..." Draco said, looking down. He couldn't believe he had just _apologized_. Slytherins did not apologize. He still shook her hand, though.

"And I'm sorry I called you an evil loathsome little cockroach..." Hermione said."I hope this means we can be friends now."

"Sure." Draco said, he then turned that handshake into a slightly awkward hug. If his dad had been there, he would have cruciated him. Or killed him right away. _Friends with a mudblood_ , he heard his father's voice in his head say, _what a disgrace for the family_.

It was Ron's turn to talk to Draco now and he didn't seem too happy about it. "Look, Malfoy, don't you dare play one of your tricks on Harry, ok?" he warned. "Or you will see."

"Oh, come on, Weasley. My friendliness might surprise you."

* * *

"And why didn't you find the Room of Requirement?" Ginny asked Luna. They were still working on the project from the night before.

"Must have been occupied. Maybe by a couple." Luna said nonchalantly.

"Typical spot for couples. Though Harry and I never went..." Ginny observed.

"Oh I ran into Hermione and your brother, who were hoping to use the Room for themselves, and she said that she knew who was inside."

Ginny ignored the feeling of disgust at the mention of her brother and his girlfriend's search for a place to do their stuff in and focused on the fact that Hermione knew who the people occupying the room were. Could it be... "Luna, it was Harry! I'm sure of it! He was surely there with someone, the bastard!" She got up. "I might finally know who Harry cheated on me with! I need to go there... thank you Luna!" Ginny grabbed her friend's face and planted a kiss on her cheek, then she hurried out of the library.

Luna inadvertently blushed.

Ginny reached the seventh floor and hid behind a wall as soon as she heard footsteps approaching. She couldn't believe it when she heard Draco Malfoy's voice.

"Ew, Harry... isn't it weird that we just left the room so that Hermione and Ron could... use it at their advantage?" Ginny heard him say.

"Whatever, it's not like we didn't use it for the same reason not one day ago!" Harry chuckled.

No way. Ginny had never been more shocked in her life before. Malfoy? How could Harry, her man, have cheated on her with Draco Malfoy? She felt disgusted, to say the least. She was so shocked that she thought she would faint. This was a lot to take in. She sat so that she would steady herself, thus giving herself time to process the news she had just heard.

She found it so unfair that she had been the fool this whole time, crying over Harry while he was screwing around with Malfoy. To think that in two years Harry had never touched her below the waist... and now there he was, giggling about his sexual encounters with Malfoy.

But what made her sick to her stomach was the fact that Ron, her brother, knew of this, apparently. How could he have done such thing to his own sister?

The couple stopped walking as they saw Pansy and Blaise coming towards them.

"Oh shit!" Draco exclaimed. He turned to Harry, hoping he had his invisibility cloak with him. "Quick, get that damned cloak of yours!" he ordered.

"I don't have it with me now!" Harry said, sincerely. "Oh damn..."

"I highly support this theo-" Pansy was saying, but then she stopped as she saw Draco with Potter. "Draco? Potter? What are you doing here together?"

"I was just showing this filthy loser how to behave. He just couldn't help disturbing me." Draco quickly said. Harry raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'filthy loser' and 'how to behave', it was usually the other way around. He had to suppress a laugh at that.

"Me? You're the one who disturbed me! I was just walking when you cornered me!"

Harry said, pretending to be angry, but he gave Draco a smile as he did so.

Surprisingly, Blaise and Pansy bought it. "Yeah, you tell him Draco! Why don't you get lost, Potter?" said Blaise.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Harry said as he walked away. He managed to wink at Draco and mouth him a 'see you later' .

Ginny decided it was time to leave her hiding spot.

"Harry, wait!" She called to him, but he didn't seem to care. "Please, don't walk away! We loved each other once!"

Harry turned around. "Ginny, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you need to move on!" He then went back to walking away.

 _ _Like hell I'll move on__ _,_ Ginny thought. __I'll teach you to mess with Ginny Weasley.__


	5. Heaven In Hiding

Things were going great for the new couple lately, though there was one particular they couldn't ignore: They couldn't be public about their relationship.

"Harry, it's not so subtle that you and Malfoy are... exchanging... messages..." Hermione observed one day at Breakfast. Harry and Draco were sending each other looks and magic air kisses. They were not so evident, as the air kisses only took a second to arrive to the recipient. They were heart shaped, small, flying pink clouds that culminated in a soft "pop" upon reaching the target's lips.

"I know, Mione," said a smiling Harry. "It's just, I can't really help it... It's hard for me to hide how crazy I am for him." He finished, blushing a little.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go. I mean," She said. "We've already established that we are fine with you and Malfoy, but... are you sure you can really trust him? After all, this is Malfoy we're talking about." She continued, in a worried tone.

"Oh come on, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "I can look after myself. He seems pretty genuine to me. You just need to get to know him, that's all. Didn't you say it yourself, that you were ready to become friends with him?"

Hermione sighed, but it was Ron who spoke. "It just takes a bit of getting used to, that's all. But, Harry, do be careful with those exchanges. You don't want the whole school to see..."

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone noticed." Harry said and a second later a magic air kiss settled on his lips. Ron and Hermione noticed right away. Harry gave a surprised giggle, while his two best friends were looking at each other. "I mean, we did notice." Hermione observed.

"Because you know, Hermione! That's why... I mean, otherwise someone else would have said something, but no one is." Harry explained. It was true, no one in the Great Hall seemed to have seen it. They were all too busy munching on their food, anyway.

Although, at the Slytherin table, a perplexed Pansy was looking at the pink trail of sparkles the air kiss had produced, but she could have easily mistaken it for one of those magic illusions of the Great Hall sky-like ceiling.

"Guys..." Harry said, then he took a breath. "You'll think me crazy, but... " he moved closer to them so that no one would over hear. "I think I might be falling in love with him."

At this, both his best friends gasped.

"WHAT?" Ron almost shouted. A few heads turned to see what had just happened, but then went back to their businesses when they didn't see anything weird. Ron blushed at the attention he had just received. Hermione elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs. "Well this is quite a bit for us to process, Harry." Hermione said, glaring at a now wincing Ron.

"I'm sorry Ron," Harry said, looking at his best friend, who was still red in the face. "But I never felt anything like this with Ginny... I guess I was never really in love with her." He then turned around to look at Draco, smiling. His boyfriend didn't see him, as he was chuckling lightly at something Blaise had said.

"I mean isn't he just so cute when he does that?" Harry said dreamily.

"Not to burst your bubble, but... Don't you think you're rushing a bit? I mean, you've just gotten together..." Hermione said.

"I don't really care." Harry replied with a shrug. "I just feel so euphoric when we kiss. Eh,even by simply being with him, really. I mean just look at him smile... it might sound shocking, but... Draco's really sweet once you get to know him."

Hermione and Ron didn't really agree with him, as they didn't think the words "Draco" and "sweet" belonged in the same sentence. Harry saw that his friends were not so convinced, so he continued. "He just happened to be unlucky. He didn't really have a choice, he had to join in on Voldemort's plans or he would have been killed. But he wasn't too happy about being a death eater. Such thing made him suffer greatly."

At this point, Ron and Hermione changed their facial expression.

"But, really, under all of that army he had constructed, lived a decent guy. He just needed someone to help him come out of his shell. And it seems like I'm that person. You see, we get each other, guys. I feel like I'm home, with him. He's like that dark part of me... but at the same time, that part of me that can make me happy like no one else can."

As soon as Harry was done speaking, he noticed that Hermione was teary-eyed. Not that it was hard for her to become emotional, but he was glad that she'd reacted like that to his speech about how he felt for Draco.

"Oh, Harry..." the girl said, "These words are just so beautiful." She was now crying freely. Ron put his arms around her. Harry was pleased to see that Ron, too, seemed to have understood what he had meant.

* * *

"What has gotten into you lately, Draco?" Blaise asked his friend, down at the Slytherin table. He must have noticed his enhanced good mood. Plus, the way he kept glancing at the Gryffindor table didn't help.

"Ah, guys..." Draco said, addressing both him and Pansy. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?"

Pansy gave him the most weirded out look ever. "Um... no... Draco, as we both noticed... there's something in the air. And you were afraid I'd tell-"

"It was nothing, really." Draco interrupted her. "It was just that I had copied from Granger during Potions." He shrugged.

"Oh..." Pansy said, although she didn't look too convinced of what she had just heard. "Isn't it that you like her, perhaps?"

At this, Draco laughed so hard that he had tears in his eyes. When he finally stopped laughing, he took a breath. "Oh, aren't you so funny, Pans?" He said, wiping a tear. Draco was genuinely entertained. Oh boy, if she knew who he really liked...

* * *

"Malfoy, can you believe it, Luna!" Ginny said to her friend, that same day. They were walking to Herbology, that they both had in common. "From what I know, they're pretending to hate each other still. I don't understand how he can just... be with him, you know?"

"Oh I can't be too surprised, my dear friend." said Luna. "He literally ogled him all the time. I don't think the nargles had anything to do with it, at this point." Luna raised her shoulders.

"I mean, I never saw him look at you the way he did him."

Ginny gave her a dirty look. "Well, Thanks for reminding me... Oh,I really want them to pay. Here's what I'm going to do..." The Weasley girl said as they were entering the greenhouse.

"Are you planning to set him on fire?" Luna asked, putting on her gloves inside out.

"I'm not that mad at him... No, I will hit him where it hurts the most." Ginny said. She moved closer to Luna. "His heart." She then whispered, crunching a bean, making a red substance ooze out of it.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Defence Against The Dark Arts class, the new professor for that year, Miss Sivan, came bearing results for the NEWTs mock test the students had taken a week earlier.

Miss Adrastea Sivan was a young woman, possibly in her thirties. Her teal blue hair fell in a cascade of curls on her shoulders and, as it moved, it scattered glitter everywhere. Many speculated that she was some kind of a veela, but it was never confirmed. She was very fond of long, white cloaks, which gave Harry the idea that she was always ready for her own wedding.

Many boys in the class were mesmerized by her apparent delicate manners, but in reality she was a very strong witch. Perfect for the subject, Harry always thought.

Ron and Harry were discussing how the simulation might have gone. "I don't think I got a good mark, Harry." Ron told his best friend. "Bloody witch always grades my works poorly."

Harry had just opened his mouth to reassure his friend when he heard a "psst" coming from Draco.

The green eyed boy turned his head swiftly, meeting his gaze. "What?" he mouthed to him.

"Check on grades together?" Draco mouthed back. Harry nodded, then turned to Ron.

"You see, this is the only way we can have a moment in public. By checking the grades sheet together." He sighed. "I don't think it's fair, Ron... I mean, why can't I kiss him in front of everyone like you do with Mione?"

"Harry..." Ron began. "People wouldn't understand... homosexuality is treated very cruelly in the Wizarding World. Especially by purebloods. Think of how the Slytherins would react."

Harry didn't really care, though. Hell, he had defeated Lord Voldemort only months before. Certainly, a few angry Slytherins couldn't hurt him.

"I would manage." He said. "I wouldn't be afraid to show them how I feel for him."

"Yeah, but, do you think Draco would be willing to do that?" asked Ron.

Ron had a point. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Miss Sivan's voice. "Come see how you did, this time." she said, then with a swift movement of her wand she made a grade sheet appear.

Harry and Draco rushed to the board, seemingly bumping into each other, but it was staged.

In that spare second, they held hands.

"Get out of my face, Potter!" Draco spat. "Your messy hair is blocking my view."

"You do that!" Harry yelled back, but he smiled at him when no one was looking.

"Wait a minute..." Pansy muttered to herself. She had noticed that smile.

"Come on, Potter and Malfoy! Don't be childish!" Professor Sivan scolded them. "At least you agree on your mark... "

The boys looked at the sheet, they had both got a D.

"Mr Potter, from what I'd heard about you I thought you wouldn't be able to get a grade below Outstanding in this subject." The teacher shook her head. She looked very disappointed.

The NEWTs pressure and the occasional haunting memories of the previous year had been very harsh on Harry and his ability to concentrate, even on his beloved subject.

Harry had let himself down, in the first place.

"Tell you what, both of you." Miss Sivan said, getting up. She walked closer to the pair. "Why don't you come to my office for some remedial Defence? This afternoon at 5."

There was no need to tell them twice. It was a perfect opportunity for the pair to spend some time together, away from unwanted eyes. Sure, Miss Sivan would have been there, but she would disappear during her remedial lessons, as Harry was told by Neville, at least.

Harry had to be in character, though, so he quickly pretended to protest. "Oh, but I have Quidditch practice!"

"Your team will survive." said miss Sivan.

Pansy was growing more and more suspicious. The fact that Draco had not complained supported her theory that something was off with him more and more.

* * *

That afternoon, during the Quidditch practice, the team was beginning to question their captain's absence. Ginny, in particular.

"Where is Harry?" she asked her brother.

"Oh, he's just at this Defence Against the Dark Arts remedial lesson with Sivan." He responded absent-mindedly.

"But we can't just practise without him! We haven't practised in like a month!" Ginny whined.

Quidditch practice had been postponed so many times in the last month, given that everyone had been busy. But now, the only missing player was Harry.

"We can. I will guide everyone myself, Harry entrusted me with this task." Ron responded, showing off a bit of a leader vibe. "It's Harry I'm worried about. Hoping Malfoy won't kill him in there!" He chuckled.

As soon as Ginny heard "Malfoy", it hit her like a lightning.

"I'm sorry, I need to.. go to the toilet." she said as she rushed towards the castle.

"Do it quickly!" Ron shouted at her from the Quidditch pitch.

"Well, boys, I'll leave you to it. I'm expecting you to work on what I've just told you, ok?" Miss Sivan said, then left as expected.

Harry and Draco didn't focus on the parchment, though. As soon as their teacher closed the door, Harry launched himself at his boyfriend, wrapping him into a tight hug. "I've been waiting all day for this!" He said in an excited tone.

"Me too, my love." Draco let slip. The moment he said those words he realized what he had just said. He called Harry my love. What was happening to him? He had never been like this with a person, let alone Harry Potter. Yet, he had said those words. He was really changing and he didn't mind it too much, he found. But he was still quite shocked at his own words.

Harry pulled away and looked into his eyes. "My love?" He repeated.

"Um..." Draco began, but wasn't sure of what to say after that.

"Look, Draco...I know we haven't been a couple for the longest time, but..." Harry took a breath.

There it is, Draco thought. He still thinks I'm the worst git to have ever lived. He's going to break up with me this very moment.

"So, when I met you I never would have dreamed to be in a relationship with you. I felt a strong sense of dislike for you, but then as time went on I realized that what I felt for you was a strong attraction that I tried to conceal with hate.

"Then we decided to swim into this ocean, new to both of us, and I've come to the realization that we are all we need to be complete. I am the light, you are the darkness. You and I, together, are all that is most different, but also all that is most similar. With you is the only way that I feel like I'm Harry Potter. I love you, Draco, like never before. And I hate the fact that we have to hide. I'd shout it from the rooftops... " Harry said. He was smiling brightly and he felt tears threatening to invade his eyes. "I'm in love with DRACO MALFOY!" He finally shouted. He was now panting, hoping that Draco felt the same as he did.

Draco couldn't find the words, he was far too touched to do so. He was only able to say "Oh, Harry..."

Harry thought that the grey eyed boy was about to reject him, he was sure. He looked quite shaken.

"But if you don't feel the same, I-" he tried to say but his boyfriend wouldn't let him finish, he simply pulled him into the most passionate kiss ever. "I love you too." Draco said, out of breath, after they had parted. Feeling like the happiest boy in the world, Harry pulled him into another, more passionate kiss.

* * *

In the meantime, a determined Ginny Weasley was running to the dungeons, aimed at the Slytherin common room. She looked around for a bit until she found her person of interest. "Parkinson, wait up!"

The Slytherin girl turned around, annoyed. "What do you want now, freckles?"

Ginny glared at her, but almost immediately cut to the chase. "There's something you need to see."

Pansy raised her eyebrow. What if that gingerbread girl was referring to Draco? "Wait, what do I need to see?"

"Just follow me." The redhead ordered. She started walking, her head turned to see if Pansy was coming or not.

Pansy looked around a bit. She hesitated at first, but then she decided to follow her.

As the other girl made her way to the DADA office, she had the confirmation that they were going to see something about Draco and Potter, since she knew that they'd be there for remedial lessons.

"Here we are." Ginny said as they arrived at destination. "After you."

Pansy grabbed the door by its handle and slowly pushed it open. She was not prepared for what she saw when she did: Draco, her longtime crush, had his arms wrapped around his so called rival, Harry Potter, and they were kissing passionately. The girl's mouth dropped open.

"Accio Camera!" Ginny whispered and a camera flew straight in her hands.

There were a clicking sound and a flash, but the boys didn't seem to notice.

"Holy fucking shit!" Pansy shouted, her hand still on the door.

The pair froze. They slowly broke apart, then they turned around to face a shocked Pansy and a smirking Ginny.

"Pa-pansy?" Draco managed to say. He was shaking a little.

"Told you, you had to see that." Ginny said with her arms crossed, giving Pansy a triumphant look.


	6. Us Against The World

Ginny Weasley, Harry's ex and best friend's sister, was standing there, a smirk set on her face. She had a camera in her hand, the camera that he had given her as a birthday gift in August. His breath caught up in his throat as he began to think that, maybe, Ginny was determined to use that device to hurt him. If she hadn't done that already.

He cursed himself. Couldn't he have waited until that night to kiss his boyfriend? He would have been in an impenetrable room. But no, he had to confess his undying love for Draco in that stupid office, one that anyone could have entered.

But he didn't expect this to happen.

"I knew that something was up!" Pansy shouted, " But never, for the life of me, I could have predicted this!" She pointed her finger from Draco to Harry, then back to Draco. "Potter? Really, Draco?"

Draco's face was paler than usual.

"Ginevra, what the hell did you just do?" Harry cried out. His face was becoming red in anger and the vein on his neck was beginning to throb.

"Not many days ago, when I tried to speak to you near the Room of Requirement, I had been there long enough to hear you two talk about how you had used that room for your dirty doings..."Ginny explained. "And I just thought that Parkinson could be interested in knowing this, too. I knew I'd find you here. Very unwise of you not to use the invisibility cloak, Harry." She finished, pointing at the camera in her hand.

"The hell with 'you're like a sister to me'! I'll destroy you, Malfoy! Your father WILL hear about this! We will make sure that this information will fall in the hands of Rita Skeeter!" Pansy yelled.

Draco had not said a word up to this point.

Dirty Weasley girl, he should have known that she would try to sabotage them in a way. Why couldn't she just keep her nose out of other people's business? He began to think that the only purpose of her existence was to infuriate him.

And then Pansy. Why the hell had he decided to become friends with her in the first place? She'd always had an enormous crush on him, which had made her so disgustingly attached to him.

And now there she was, threatening to end him.

"You just try and you're dead, Pansy." He finally spoke, although the thought of his father knowing this terrified him quite.

"No, your life is over! The whole school will know!" Pansy replied, eying the camera in Ginny's grip.

"Did you take a picture of us with that camera?" Harry asked, getting up to get closer to Ginny, who nodded with a smirk.

"That's what you get for ripping my heart in two." Ginny said, in a faux calm tone.

"You wouldn't dare divulge it everywhere, Ginny! What happened to that smart girl I knew? This isn't you, Gin!" Harry tried to reason with her.

"Try. Me." The redhead said. She was now in Harry's face, giving him a defiant look.

"The show is over." Said Pansy, siding by Ginny.

Draco finally got up and ran towards Ginny. He then tried to snatch her camera out of her hand, but the girl's grip was stronger than his.

Pansy took out her wand and pointed it to Draco. "Let loose, or I will curse you." She threatened.

"What the devil is going on?" Miss Sivan's voice said, echoing through the hallway. "Mr Malfoy, let go of Weasley! And Parkinson, put the wand down!" The woman rushed to the four of them, her cloak brushing the floor. "Do you all want detention?"

Draco let go of Ginny's camera, which she vanished promptly.

Pansy put her wand back in her pocket. "We were just leaving." She said to the teacher.

"Twenty points each from the four of you!" said Miss Sivan. "And go back to work, you two." She said, addressing Draco and Harry.

The two girls ran off, locking arms.

"Please, professor! We can't stay here!" Draco pleaded, trying to see where the girls were headed.

"I don't have time for your childish matters. I know you two don't like each other, but you need to finish this work, or you won't be able to pass this year, I'm afraid."

"But-" Harry tried to argue. "No buts. Get to work or I'll remove more points." Miss Sivan said sternly.

Therefore, Harry and Draco went back to their seats, helplessly. They both prayed that they'd finish their work as fast as they could, there was still a chance that they could stop the two girls from doing something unspeakable with the photo that they had just taken. If only there was a quick way to communicate with Ron or Hermione...

* * *

After an agonizing half an hour, the pair was finally done with their lesson.

They ran out the classroom as fast as they could, although they were terrified that in that period of time Ginny and Pansy had already leaked the photo throughout the whole school.

They aimed upstairs, towards the Gryffindor common room. When they saw the fat lady, Harry blurted out "Lacuna!". She tried to argue against the presence of a Slytherin, but Harry shushed her before she could protest any further.

"Guys!" Harry shouted, running towards his friends. They were both sitting on the sofa next to the fireplace and they were all cuddled up to each other.

"Harry, what... Draco can't be here!" Hermione said in a worried tone. Harry completely ignored her. "Guys we have a problem!" He said.

"What problem? Worse than you missing Quidditch practice?" Ron said in a bitter tone. But there was no time for futile grudges. "Really, Ron? Now you're gonna be all offended? Your devil of a sister found out that Draco and I were together and she had Pansy tell her that we were in Miss Sivan's office, then they went there and took an incriminating picture of us, which they're going to scatter across the whole school!" Harry said, all in one breath.

Ron's eyes widened at the realization. "Oh no, Harry, I'm the one who told her that you were there together, but I didn't think...Oh Merlin!" He put his hands in his hair in guilt and frustration.

"What? You're crazy! You know your sister is unstable lately!" Harry screamed.

"Oh I am dead, I tell you, dead!" Draco cried desperately.

"Everyone calm down, ok? No ONE is gonna die! Stop blaming each other and crying over spilled milk! Right now all we need to do is ACT. And we must do it fast!" said Hermione, bringing some sense into all of them. Hermione truly was the brightest witch for her age.

"But we don't know where they are!" Draco whined.

"There's only one way to find out..." Hermione said, looking around the room. "Harry, where do you keep that map of yours?" she asked her friend.

Draco was puzzled when he heard the word "map". That's why Harry always knew where he was, he had a map that let him do so. "You have a map that tracks people down?" He asked, addressing his boyfriend.

"Yeah.. long story. Uh, it's in our dorm, right under my pillow." Harry explained.

"I'll go." Ron offered. He then got up and went straight to his room. He came back right away holding a piece of parchment, that he handed to Harry.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Harry recited and the Marauders Map appeared.

Draco was looking at it in awe.

"The Great Hall!" The four of them said in unison.

* * *

Upon reaching the Great Hall, where everyone was gathering for dinner time, they spotted Ginny and Pansy right at the center of the room.

"Ginny!" Harry called while running to her. Pansy was the one holding the camera, apparently waiting for the whole school to be in the room before acting. They had made it, they were in time. Ginny had her wand ready.

"You can't stop me, Harry!" the girl said. She was in no way seeing that she was about to make a very big mistake.

"Ginny, please! Think about what you're about to do! What do you think our mother would do if she saw you like this? This is not who you are!" Ron said, hoping to bring his sister back to her senses. Ginny seemed to consider it for a bit.

"No, Ron. I have to do this. He cheated on me with fucking Malfoy! He deserves to suffer!"

"Ginny," Harry said. "I swear to you, I never cheated on you. I got with Draco after our relationship had ended." He took her hand into his. Ginny looked at the hand and sighed.

"You still made a fool out of me."

"Pansy," Draco said, reaching for his friend. "What have I ever done to you?"

Pansy was visibly upset, it was obvious that she hadn't gotten over what she had seen just yet.

She had taken it personal. "Draco, you could have had me, but you chose to fool around with Potter, of all people!"

"Pansy, I am so, so sorry." The blond boy put his hands on her shoulders. "But it would never work between us, for I am gay. And there's nothing I can do about it."

"Ginny, I care about you," Harry said. "But we just didn't click. We're better off as friends."

"No!" Ginny shouted, then she pulled her hand out of Harry's grasp. "Pansy! Lift the camera up in the air!"

Pansy removed Draco's arm in a violent motion, then she obeyed.

"No!" Draco screamed in desperation. This was it, his life would have ended in a matter of seconds.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Ginny said and pointed her wand at the camera. She opened her mouth to pronounce the spell, but Harry disarmed her with an "Expelliarmus!". He, Ron and Hermione were now taking a hold of her in order to stop her from getting to her wand.

Ginny's wand flew in the air, but Pansy still had her wand with her.

"Pansy! You need to say 'Imprimo' while pointing at the camera!" Ginny screamed through her captors' arms.

Harry detached himself from Ginny and ran to where Pansy was, Draco tried to do the same but they were too late. Pansy had already formulated the spell.

In a matter of seconds, the whole of the Great Hall was filled with banners, much like those used in the House Cup, but, instead of a house crest, they sported a picture of Draco and Harry kissing each other.

"What is going on here?" said Headmistress McGonagall, as she had heard the 'expelliarmus' from minutes before. "Are you dueling in the Great Hall?" She was quite angry, but she stopped her scolding as soon as she saw what had just happened.

Draco's blood went cold. It felt as if his world had stopped spinning. There was nothing he could do, now. His heart was beating so fast that he couldn't hear anything else. He felt like he was going to throw up.

The Great Hall fell silent. Some students were exchanging looks, some of them were looking at Draco and Harry, but no one dared say a word. The two of them just stood there, next to each other, unable to produce a sound. Harry wasn't scared, but he was still shocked that Ginny could ever do something like this to him. Additionally, he was aware that his boyfriend was having an internal break down.

Ginny's voice broke the silence, "Screw you, Harry! An owl is on its way to the Daily Prophet, soon everyone will know."

"No, no!" Draco cried. "You!" He had the most disgusted look on his face. He was determined to hurt those two foul women, so he tried to run after Ginny but Harry grabbed him by his robe.

"Don't." he said to him. "You don't want to get in any more trouble."

"But, Harry, my father! He will know!"Draco argued. "I have nothing to lose now."

"Don't say this." Harry told him. He then turned him around in order to face him. "Draco, look at me." He cupped his face in his hands. "We are better than them. All they want us to do is either attack them or run off crying. But we won't do any of these things, ok?"

Draco nodded, but he wasn't so sure that doing nothing was the best option. In a matter of hours, his father would have heard the news and would have probably come to Hogwarts to harm him. The only thing that Lucius hated more than Mudbloods were the homosexuals.

"Dirty abominations", he would call them.

"Everyone knows now, so what? If any of them says something to you, I will make sure to deal with it. I promise you." Harry reassured him. "As long as you love me, I don't care what the world might say. I don't care if it will be the two of us against it. They can't touch us." This said, the black haired boy pressed his lips against his lover's, right there, in front of everyone.

They were going to face this, together, no matter what it took.

They were stronger than ever.


	7. The Aftermath

And there they stood. Kissing, in the Great Hall.

Hermione's eyes were filled with tears. She wiped her eyes and snuggled into Ron's shoulder, who held her into an embrace and kissed her head, then looked at the kissing couple and couldn't stop smiling. He felt proud of his friend.

Ginny's face was rather shocked. She gave Pansy a look, her mouth still open. Pansy was also taken aback. No one said a word, the whole of the Great Hall was still in shock.

All that could be heard was the occasional cough from a student. The teachers were also very quiet. When the two lovers parted the kiss, Draco had tears in his eyes. Harry brushed his fingers on his face to wipe all the residue . Draco looked into his eyes and smiled. The two boys looked at the crowd in front of them and Harry's voice broke the silence.

"Dear Hogwarts,"He began, "Yes, as you can see, Draco and I are a couple. True, we weren't ready to come out, but we were forced into it by the very people we trusted the most. So, what can we do? They were surely hoping to bring us down but we chose to be brave." And as he finished his speech he held his lover's hand in his.

There was a slow clap, then it became louder by the second. Harry smiled. He felt so much respect for himself in that moment. And for the crowd. Everyone was clapping at the bravery, except Blaise, Gregory, Pansy and Ginny. Blaise was so shocked that he had almost choked on a bean.

"Enough!" Professor McGonagall yelled, but no one seemed to pay attention to her.

Ginny, at the sight of the applauding people, felt as if she had made a mistake in her plan. She turned to Pansy, her face showing a disappointed look. "I don't understand... why is everyone clapping their hands?" She wondered.

"They should all be infuriated!" Pansy protested. The look on her face was similar to Ginny's.

"Well, this is unexpected." Harry said, feeling surprised. He thought that the silence in the Great Hall meant trouble was to come. But, he was happy to be wrong. He turned his head to see Draco's reaction, he was just as surprised as he was.

"Wait till you see what the Slytherins have to say, though." Draco said, eying his house mates. He was already starting to feel worried.

Professor McGonagall had had enough of the ruckus that was now taking place in the room, so she yelled "Finite Incantatem!" and ordered for everyone to keep quiet.

She got just the effect she had intended to receive, as every student was done clapping and shouting.

"What were you looking to achieve?" She asked in a scolding tone, referring to Ginny and Pansy.

"Orchestrating this buffoonery! What were you thinking, humiliating students like this?"

Both girls were looking at their feet in shame. Ginny was the first one to speak.

"I-" she tried to say, but the Headmistress intervened. "Miss Weasley," she said sternly. "and Miss Parkinson, the price you will pay for your misconduct consists in the removal of 50 points each. Nevertheless, sending unauthorized material to the Daily Prophet is considered a felony, therefore you should both be expelled, but we will have the time to discuss the matter with your parents."

"But-" Pansy tried to argue, but she was shushed immediately by McGonagall's worst death stare.

The Headmistress ordered for everyone to go back to their seats and continue with their meal, then she turned around to speak to Harry and Draco and awarded them 25 points each for their bravery.

Harry passed a shocked Ginny on his way to his seat. "It takes much more to bring down Harry Potter, didn't Voldemort teach you anything?" he said to her, with a hint of sass.

The girl couldn't find the words, she merely gasped.

An angry Blaise rose from his seat and ran towards Draco. "So this is your big secret, uh?" He said in a defiant tone. "You're a faggot, And with Potter. That's just disgusting!" He spat.

"What do you care, Blaise? It's not something that defines me. But if you're not willing to accept this, then I don't see why we should carry on with our friendship." Draco responded, feeling confident. This earned him a smile from his boyfriend.

Blaise spat in his face.

"Hey, don't you dare! Leave him alone!" Harry shouted, coming to Draco's rescue.

"What do you want, Potter?" Blaise asked in a bitter tone. "Looking for trouble, you faggot?" As he said he got into Harry's face. Harry's hand was in his pocket, aiming for his wand.

"I'd say you are." The black haired boy said, ready to take his wand out.

"Am I mute or something? Now, all of you, go back to eating dinner or I will expel you!" McGonagall yelled.

This prevented a fight. Blaise simply glared at Harry and Draco, then went back to his seat.

Ron and Hermione, who had not said anything yet (though they had been clapping), congratulated the pair on their courage. "Thanks." Draco responded. "Although...could I sit with you Gryffindors?" He timidly asked.

Ron, Hermione and Harry all turned their heads to check on the Slytherins.

They did not have the friendliest faces, at all.

"Sure, Draco." Said Hermione. The four of them all made their way to the table.

"So, you two are a thing?" Neville asked when Harry and Draco sat in front of him. He wasn't afraid of the latter anymore, it seemed.

"Yep." Harry said.

"Know that I am perfectly fine with this." Neville said, looking at the two of them.

Draco nodded and Harry thanked him.

Ginny and Pansy sat at the High Table with the teachers.

* * *

That night, Draco slept in Harry's dorm.

It wasn't safe to sleep in the same room as Blaise and Gregory.

He woke up in the middle of the night, must have been around 3 am.

He saw that the other boy had his arms wrapped around him, which made him smile. _Oh Potter, what have you done to me? You turned me into an emotional sap,_ he thought.

He couldn't sleep much as what had happened hours before was running through his mind. Everyone had found out about him and Harry and he had found himself caught in the crossfire of the Slytherins' rage.

He was surprised, though, that the Gryffindors, whom he had bullied relentlessly through the years, were more supportive than his own house mates.

How could they turn their back on him? After all, he was still a prefect. And not to mention he had helped build everyone's reputation. Now his own reputation had fallen apart.

His trail of thought shifted to the last month of his life. He had thrown all of that away because of a few nights of sex with his old enemy. But, for some weird, astronomical reason, he had fallen for him. He had told him that he loved him. He had never said those words to anyone in his life before. He wondered if it all was worth it.

Worth losing his family... He knew that his father would have murdered him.

He was incredibly afraid of what he would say, he dreaded that he would have come to Hogwarts himself, ready to disown him.

What had happened to the old Draco? He was dead.

He needed some air, as the thought of this father was enough to make him incredibly anxious. He was sure that he would have had a panic attack if he had stayed in that bed. So, he slowly lifted Harry's arm and went on to slither out of his grasp.

He decided that a bath in the Prefects Bathroom had to be to in order, so he made his way to it- it was the best way to calm his nerves.

Draco sank his body into the bubbly water and suddenly felt all the tension he had built up fade. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the border of the tub.

Bless bubbly baths.

* * *

He didn't know how long he had been there when he heard someone come into the room. He suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, trying to cover his privates with his hands.

"I knew I'd find you here." Came Harry's voice. He watched as his boyfriend undressed and went into the water with him.

"How did you know the password to this bathroom?" Draco asked. Last time he'd checked, Harry wasn't a prefect. But then he considered that his closeness to Ron and Hermione might have played a part in it.

"I have my ways." His boyfriend responded.

Harry swam closer to the blond boy and put an arm around his shoulders.

"I couldn't sleep." Draco said. He rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"Thoughts of my father are haunting my brain."

"We can face him together." Harry reassured.

Draco nodded. "Oh, Harry, I love you." he suddenly breathed.

His boyfriend grinned at him, then he brushed his face with his thumb and kissed him softly. "I love you, too."

They ended up making love into the tub. That was what they both needed to end that exhausting and stressful day.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Draco were filled with anxiety, thinking of the day that was ahead of them.

"I'm so, so nervous." Draco muttered to his boyfriend as they were walking towards the Great Hall for Breakfast.

"Don't worry. Just hold my hand." Harry said. The grey eyed boy held his hand tightly.

"Guys... you need to see this." said Hermione. She was holding the new edition of the Daily Prophet in her hand. She showed it to the both of them and they saw that the picture of their kiss was on the front page.

" _Directly from Hogwarts, the saviour of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter, seems to be in love with ex death eater, Draco Malfoy."_ Hermione began reading the snippet. _"Could this be dark magic?_ "

Draco had to sit in order to process the news. "So, now, everyone in the Wizarding World knows?" he asked Hermione, who nodded.

"Dark Magic!" Hermione exclaimed. "How can they say something like this about homosexuality?" she continued. She was appalled, to say the least.

"Think of what the parents will say now." Harry said with a sigh. This situation reminded him of when nobody believed him when he'd said that the Dark Lord had come back. He remembered how the parents of some students had accused him and Dumbledore of being corrupted.

"Don't mind them, Harry." Hermione said.

"Oh, but where is Ron?" Harry asked, just now noticing his absence.

"Oh, he went to say hi to George, his parents are here to talk to the Headmistress and George tagged along." The girl answered.

"Malfoy," Professor Slughorn's voice called. "You need to come with me to my office. Your father is here for you."

So, Lucius really did come to Hogwarts to talk to Draco. The boy was hoping that this fear of him visiting him would not come true. But now, his father was there, for him. He felt like he could faint at any minute. "Oh, no." He murmured. He was shaking and breathing irregularly.

"I'll come, too." Harry said.

Slughorn nodded. He could never say no to Harry, anyway.

"Good luck!" Hermione said to the pair, then she hugged them both.

As he, Harry and the professor made their way to Slughorn's office, Draco felt as if he was heading straight to the pillory. This is what people who are sentenced to death must feel like upon their arrival at the execution site.

Lucius was standing with the Daily Prophet in his grasp.

"Ah, Draco." He said, seemingly calm. It felt, though, like the calm before the storm.

"Father, I..." Draco began, his voice trembling.

"Explain what the hell this is." his father said, referring to the article.

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Harry.

"My Dear Lucius. Those are your son and I kissing. Yeah, because we **_love_** each other." He said in a mocking tone, putting emphasis on the word "love".

"But.. what? Draco?" Lucius addressed to his son. "Is he serious? How can you do this to our family name? This is an outrageous insult! My son... an abomination!" He spat in an almost undertone. He was furious.

"Father, I don't care about our name, for it is only associated with death eaters. And I never wanted to take part in that." Draco said in a serious tone.

Harry noticed that his boyfriend was sweating, but he was proud of him for standing up to his father that way.

"What are you saying? This is just brainwashing that this dirty homosexual performed! If you do not intend to drop this act, I will disown you." The oldest of the Malfoys in the room threatened.

And Draco knew that he was serious. This was the moment in which he had to choose between his family and his boyfriend. He took a long breath, then he spoke, "Do it, if you dare. You always wanted me to turn into you, but I will tell you... I am NOT willing to do that. I am gay and in love with Harry." As Draco finished talking, he took Harry's hand in his own.

Lucius gasped. "This is disrespecting your own blood! You should be ashamed of yourself. Think of mother... she almost fainted upon reading this article!"

"No, Lucius." Harry intervened. "You should be ashamed... I shouldn't have spoken in your favor at your trial, I should have let you rot in Azkaban!"

"Potter, you can't help ruining families, can you? You're disgusting! Cru-" Lucius was going to cruciate him, but he was unable to, as Professor Slughorn disarmed him. "Mr Malfoy," he said "I have to ask you to leave these premises, now."

Lucius put his wand down, glaring at Harry and his son."Draco, if you ever decide to come home, I swear to you I will kill you." he said, then he left.

"I won't!" Draco yelled to his dad. Then, he buried his face in Harry's neck and let out a sob.

The Gryffindor held him close."Shh," he cooed. "It's for the best."

"I lost my family, Harry!" The Slytherin cried, wetting Harry's robe with his tears.

"It will be alright." Harry whispered. "I know the feeling."

* * *

When the two of them went back to the Great Hall, they were cornered by Blaise and Goyle.

"Here it is, the happy couple!" Goyle's voice boomed. "You think you're so cool because you kissed in front of everyone? The truth is you're simply dirty homos."

"These fairies thinking they can change the world." Blaise agreed.

Draco was surprised at the way Goyle was talking to him. He never would have done it a year before. He wanted to threaten him, but he was far too distraught to do so. So, he ignored him.

"Get. Lost. Now." Harry ordered, putting himself in front of his boyfriend, shielding him with his body.

"We're not afraid of you, Potter." Blaise said. "You are just a pompous shit who struts around saying that he saved the world. But you're just a fairy, is all that you are." He said in a disgusted voice.

"You better stay away from us, Zabini." Harry said sternly, he then put his hand on his pocket.

Blaise tried to argue, but Goyle tugged on his arm. Draco smiled because he saw fear creeping up on Gregory's face. "Let's go, Blaise." Goyle said, "These fairies are not worth getting detention over." But both Harry and Draco knew that this was his fear speaking. He had become a scared little shit upon thinking that Harry was taking his wand out. After all, Harry had defeated the darkest wizard of all time.

* * *

"Mr and Mrs Weasley, I'm sure you already know why you're here." Said the Headmistress.

Arthur, Molly and Ginny were all in her office to discuss what Ginny had done the day before.

Her fate was still unknown, though the girl was dreading expulsion.

"Yes, Minerva, I received your owl. And I can't even begin to express how sorry I am on behalf of my daughter. I can assure you, she had never behaved like this in her life before." Molly said dryly.

"Mum, I..." Ginny murmured.

"Ginevra, this is not how I raised you. I was also shocked at the news of Harry and Malfoy - believe me, it is hard to accept, also because I didn't know about your breakup, but that is no way an excuse to attempt at ruining his life like this. Do you even know what that could do to a person?" Molly reprimanded her daughter. She was very, very disappointed in her,

Arthur looked at his daughter, but he didn't say a word. He was far too aghast.

"Your daughter," McGonagall began "should face expulsion, but we firmly believe in second chances. Therefore, she will only be punished with a year-long detention. She will be helping mr Filch with the cleaning of the castle."

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. It was not that appealing, but at least it was better than being expelled.

After her parents left, Ginny ran to the Great Hall. She was determined to apologise to Harry and Draco. She had done something terrible to them. Sure, Harry had hurt her, but he didn't deserve this. She wondered if she had become a bad person. She wasn't positive that she would gain Harry's forgiveness, but she knew that her own forgiveness was far from being achieved.

How could she had done something this serious to a person that she had once loved? She could have been a mature girl and accepted Harry's detachment, maybe now they would have been friends. But no, she had to go and ruin everything out of jealousy.

"Harry!" She called for him when she entered the room.

"Don't speak to me, Ginny." Harry said in a dry tone.

"But-"

"Ginny," Hermione interrupted her. "I don't know if you know this, but Draco's family has just disowned him, because of you. So, if I were you, I wouldn't show my face around here."

"Oh, I didn't think..." Ginny said. She was very ashamed of herself, more than she had been the day before.

"You knew this was going to hurt us." Harry said. "Don't you dare sit here with us. Oh, and consider yourself out of the Quidditch team."


	8. Bad Blood And Mistletoes

A few days after the 'incident' there was still bad blood between Ginny and the Gryffindors plus Draco. The girl had given up trying to explain herself, as she was considered a traitor.

During meals she would sadly look at the people that had once thought very highly of her. They were laughing with each other, living perfectly fine without her. She wondered if maybe it would have been better to be expelled. At least, she wouldn't have to see them every day.

The only person in the whole school who didn't seem to hate her was Luna. Too bad that she was a Ravenclaw.

That next weekend, at Hogsmeade, Luna and Ginny had gone to Madam Puddifoot, as the Three Broomsticks wasn't the most favorable place for her.

"I am being bullied by my own house." Ginny said to her friend. She had her head down in order to avoid her gaze, as she had a lump in her throat.

"Same."Luna said. "People are cruel. And your little game in the Great Hall probably didn't help. I suspect the Wrackspurts had infested your brain that day." She continued, firmly convinced of her theory.

"No, Luna... It was my fault, I was angry and hurt... but I shouldn't have done that. Or involve Parkinson into it." The redhead said.

"You will see, Harry will forgive you. I mean, he's forgiven Malfoy." Luna observed.

That gave Ginny a slight sense of hope.

"You know what, Luna... I feel bad for Malfoy. I never thought I'd say this but he didn't really deserve to be thrown out of his home."she said, still looking down.

"He's changed, I reckon. I could get him to buy the Quibbler, maybe." said Luna. "Don't pretend that you're not about to cry, Gin Gin. You can cry freely with me. Unless you get your tears in my drink, I don't care."

Ginny tilted her head up and gave Luna a smile. She felt blessed to have her, without her it would have all been much harder. "Thank you, Luna. You're the only one who doesn't hate me around here." She said, taking Luna's hand in hers.

Luna looked at their hands and blushed slightly. "No problem. I just think you're influenced by vile creatures, but I know that the real you is much better." she said.

The other girl giggled in response.

"You're so cute when you do that." The blonde observed.

Ginny suddenly felt a weird feeling of warmth invade her chest, then her face, which became red. Must have been the effect of the Butterbeer, she thought, although she wasn't sure of it herself. Did she enjoy compliments from Luna a little too much?

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Three Broomsticks, the golden trio plus Draco were enjoying themselves.

"I hardly believe this, the four of us, together, at the same table, with no wands out." Ron said with a grin.

This was their first time hanging out all together since Draco's change of heart.

"I told you that my friendliness might surprise you." said the Slytherin.

He and Harry were sitting next to each other, holding hands underneath the table, while Ron and Hermione were sitting opposite them, also holding hands.

"It's so weird to think that this all started with Draco pushing Harry to the ground." Hermione pointed out.

"He did it on purpose, as he knew I liked him." said Harry, looking at his boyfriend.

"I was suspecting it, yes." Draco confirmed with a smirk. "I'm sure I was able to visit you in your dreams that night." He teased.

Harry blushed furiously. It had actually happened. He recalled that dream about them kissing, which became true a day after.

"Oh, so you did dream of me that night!" Draco said, surprised. "What did you dream I was doing?"

"Just what happened the day after under the tree, us kissing." Harry admitted.

"Ah, yeah, I recall. Right after we did it, you said it was a 'mistake', I quote." Draco said, taking in air quotes.

"Ah, well, we still hated each other up to two seconds before." Harry defended himself.

Hermione gave a giggle as she witnessed the two lovers bickering. She seemed to find them cute.

"You remind me of Ron and I," she said, fondly. "We used to bicker like this all the time."

"I can confirm that!" Harry said, raising his free hand. "I was always in the middle of them."

"Oh, and you'd always act like the hero of the situation, I bet."Draco mocked.

"Oh, he would!" Ron confirmed.

"Aren't you a bit full of yourself?" Draco sneered.

Harry wanted to wipe that smile off that stupid face so badly. But he had to admit that this teasing was not so bad. "Look who's talking!"He simply said.

His boyfriend kissed him in response. That took him by surprise, but he still dived into it.

Some people turned their heads to stare at them, but they didn't say a word.

Hermione and Ron gave a 'woo' at the sight of that PDA, Draco was not afraid to show his love for Harry anymore. Hermione put her hands on her chest, feeling proud.

"Aren't they so cute?" she said to Ron. "You never kiss me like that at random!"

Ron took it as a challenge and proceeded to kiss his girlfriend.

"You had never taken the initiative to kiss me in front of everyone, It was always me who did."

Harry said, as his lips parted from Draco's. He was incredibly proud of him for doing so.

"I decided that I shouldn't let others get to me. It's time to put an end to my fears."

Draco said, smiling.

Ron, having broken his kiss with his girlfriend, suddenly seemed to remember something.

"I don't mean to interrupt a moment but... Harry, what are your intentions regarding the Quidditch team?" After all, they were missing a chaser, now.

"Oh, right." Harry said, shifting his attention from Draco to his best friend. The thought had never really crossed his mind in the days before.

"I think I'll do some tryouts. " He said.

Ron took a breath, "Are you absolutely sure that you want to-"

"Ron, we've already discussed this. No, I do not intend to keep your sister in our team. She betrayed us, therefore she is out. Full stop."Harry snapped.

"But she is my sister, Harry!" Ron said.

"That doesn't change it. I wish I didn't have to spend Christmas in the same house as her."

Harry concluded.

There was no way to reason with him about Ginny, she had done something horrible and he wasn't willing to forgive her, at least not yet.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other, awkwardly, as silence fell on them.

"Wow guys, won't you look outside? The weather is dreadful." Hermione said, something like five minutes later.

Talking about the weather was always a good way to deal with awkward silences.

* * *

When the four of them left the bar, it was snowing outside and there was a strong wind.

They all had to hold on to their scarves to prevent them from flying away.

On their way back to the castle, the two couples saw Pansy approaching to them.

Her cheeks were both red, she was wearing a large hat that covered her eyebrows and her Slytherin scarf kept going left and right.

She was visibly cold, as she had her arms crossed and she was shivering.

Draco wasn't ecstatic to see her, but he couldn't be too mad at her, not when she had snowflakes all over her face.

Harry was ready to fight her, but Draco stopped him. If Harry wasn't in anyway inclined to forgive her and Ginny, Draco didn't have the same idea. He wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Hey, Draco... have a minute?" the Slytherin girl asked.

Draco nodded.

"Well,we will leave you to it." said Hermione, then she grabbed Ron's hand and together they left for Hogwarts.

Now, it was only Draco, Harry and Pansy on the spot.

"I just want to say how truly sorry I am." the girl said, looking down at her feet.

"I shouldn't have... I don't know what got into my head, really. I was just angry and... I let that get to me. It was just a shock for me to see... this." Pansy said, referring to the two of them.

She stopped speaking for a moment when she noticed that Draco was wearing a Gryffindor scarf while Harry was wearing a Slytherin one.

They were _that close_ now _._

"It's just a lot to take in... You've changed so much since this...happened and I guess I blamed it all on Potter..."

"Pansy, look," Draco said. "I know that I'm different now. And yeah, the fact I'm dating _Harry_ played a part in that, but in the end, he just let me be the person that I always wanted to be, underneath it all. Now I am free, Pans. Partly because of you, I finally spoke up to my father."

He concluded. He wasn't lying. He had finally found the courage to be himself.

Also, he thought that not forgiving Pansy would be silly on his part, given that he had done things that were significantly worse than putting a picture on a banner.

Pansy smiled with tears in her eyes, then she threw herself at Draco.

The blond boy held her into a tight hug. He didn't even mind her tears all over his coat.

"I l-love y-you." Pansy said in a hiccup of sobs. "And I-I u-understand that... we will never b-be t-togeth-her."

Harry watched as the two friends rekindled, without saying a word. He didn't buy it one bit, even if Pansy was sobbing her heart out. It seemed to him like she was just acting, so that she'd be back in Draco's grace again, just for convenience. However, he didn't externalize these feelings to his boyfriend.

He just gave Pansy a fake smile.

* * *

That night, the Room of Requirement was occupied by Luna and Ginny, who needed it for a thorough research on Wrackspurts.

Ginny didn't really care about the subject of their meeting, she was more interested in spending time with her friend.

As Luna babbled, Ginny would find herself looking at her hair, her eyes and her moving lips. The entire ensemble was rather hypnotizing for her. She began to wonder what it would feel like to kiss those lips while running her fingers in her hair... No, that wasn't possible, Ginny was straight and still mourning the loss of a relationship with Harry.

"...and the spectrespecs are the only mechanism known to man that makes you see the Wrackspurts." Luna concluded, although she noticed how Ginny had been staring at her.

"Are you staring at me because you want to kiss me?" She said,without thinking. "Because I'd be fine with it."

Ginny immediately snapped out of her thoughts and her face turned crimson red.

"Oh...Luna... no I mean... you like me?" Ginny asked, embarrassed.

"Yes. I mean, you're a cute girl, you're my only friend. Why shouldn't I like you, you silly." Luna said with one of her dreamy eyed smiles.

"Oh, but I don't like girls... I was just thinking of..." the redhead tried to say.

"Of me." the blonde said, finishing the sentence for her. "I noticed how you look at me, Gin Gin. "

Ginny took a breath. Luna was right, she had found herself thinking of her in some... ways. Even throughout her relationship with Harry, but at the time she had simply mistaken it for sexual frustration.

Suddenly, a mistletoe appeared. Both girls looked at it, Ginny was nervous.

"Oh, a mistletoe." Luna observed. "Nargles like to infest these. Thank God I have my necklace to keep them away." She said, moving her head excitedly and fidgeting with her butterbeer caps necklace.

Weird, Luna wasn't talking about kissing Ginny. Maybe Luna, in her own little world, didn't know much about mistletoes and had only seen them as "Nargle hives".

"Ah, silly me. Almost forgot." the Ravenclaw continued, looking like she had forgotten to do something very important. Then, she took Ginny's face in her hands and planted a kiss on her lips.

The Gryffindor girl was taken aback, but she let her do that. She had to admit that the kiss didn't feel so bad, after all. It was different than the ones with Harry, this was sweeter, softer and it felt more real. Harry's kisses lacked passion, basically. While Luna's was full of fire.

Something inside of her, though, told her to push her away. She wasn't a lesbian, she had dated so many guys and that should have confirmed her heterosexuality.

Her body didn't obey her voice in her head saying 'push her away!', though. She just relaxed into the kiss. When Luna pulled away, she gasped.

The other girl simply smiled and went back to her magic beasts ramble.


	9. Wintery Fluff

Christmas break was now around the corner.

The snow reigned supreme all around the Hogwarts castle. Anyone who dared walk outside found themselves calves deep into that icy substance.

Going to Herbology was hard as ever. It took students several minutes to get through all that snowy path. Neville even fell once, finding himself sinking into the snow. But he would never miss an Herbology lesson, so he got up and went anyway. When he got to the greenhouse, he was shivering so much that Professor Sprout had to send him straight to the Hospital Wing.

All Quidditch matches had been canceled as a consequence of the weather, much to Harry's relief, as he had not yet found a replacement for Ginny.

Draco was glad that he was now spending little to no time in the Slytherin common room, for it was always so cold in the winter, due to it being located in the dungeons.

The Gryffindor common room was much warmer, not only for its location and its fire, which was always on, but also for the presence of his boyfriend.

He knew that, technically, he was breaking a law. Common rooms existed for a reason.

He was beginning to consider asking the Headmistress to make an exception for him and let him hang out at the Gryffindors' as much as he wanted, given his situation. He wondered if he could ever find peace in his own dorm again. But that was unlikely, given how much shit Blaise was giving him lately.

Also, there was one thing that was constantly tucking at his brain. How he would have spent Christmas. Professor Slughorn, who was now head of the Slytherin house, had made a list of the students who would spend Christmas at Hogwarts and he was pressuring Draco to tell him what his intentions were, but he didn't feel like getting into it just yet.

There was no way he could ever spend it at home. Not that he wanted to go there, anyway.

So, this meant that he would have to stay at Hogwarts.

But Harry wouldn't have been there, he was supposed to spend it with the Weasleys.

Therefore, he was dreading the arrival of that day.

* * *

One Saturday morning Draco was determined to ask his boyfriend to stay there with him and spend Christmas together.

Harry had a special thing organised for that day, but he didn't say what it was.

It involved them being outside though, was all that he knew about it.

The couple's destination was the lake. When they reached it, Draco looked at Harry with widened eyes. "What exactly do you think we are going to do on this frozen lake?"

"Give me your feet." Harry simply said.

Draco's expression was puzzled, at this point. What the devil did he have in mind?

"My feet?" he asked with a hint of fear.

"Relax, I'm not gonna detach them from your body." Harry said with a chuckle. Then, he pointed his wand at his boyfriend's feet. A moment later, his shoes had turned into ice skates.

Harry made a chair appear, just in time for Draco to fall right on it.

"What exactly are these?" Draco asked, wiggling his feet a bit.

"These, my love, are _ice skates_." Harry explained. Then, he made another chair appear, sat on it and gave himself a pair of skates as well. "These are used to skate. It's kind of like dancing, but on ice." He concluded, smirking.

Oh dear Merlin and any other wizard. Was his lunatic of a boyfriend going to _dance_ on the damned _lake_ with these ridiculous muggle shoes?

Harry extended his hand for Draco to hold. "Come on, Draco. Don't be a chicken. It will be fun, I promise."

Draco hesitated at first, but then he took his hand. Both of them stumbled for the lack of balance, but they were able to get on the lake, eventually.

Harry guided Draco as they skated their way towards one of the shores, where they made their first stop. "Was it that bad?" Harry asked, grinning widely. But when he looked at his boyfriend he couldn't suppress a laugh. Draco showed the angriest death stare ever.

"You're joking, right? I risked falling on this stupid ice, I look like a freaking monkey with this walk and I'm afraid we'll drown into the freezing waters of the lake!" Draco whined, this only made Harry laugh more. "What's so funny about this?" The blond boy asked in a semi-infuriated tone.

"You're just so unbelievably cute, all angry and unexperienced." Harry said, wrapping his arms around his lover.

Draco sighed, then he hid his face in Harry's shoulder. "I suck at muggle things." he said.

The black haired boy suddenly twirled him around, making a circle in the ice. Draco had to hold on to him to avoid falling head first into the ice. "Are you out of your mind?" he yelled.

"Come on, who cares if you suck at it, this is just so fun!" the Gryffindor said. He took Draco's hand back into his and skated all around the lake, clumsily making pirouettes and tricks, all while a stumbling Draco kept screaming, but he slowly turned his scream into a laugh.

Not much later, Harry fell, thus dragging his boyfriend along with him, who fell on top of him.

They both laughed hysterically.

"I told you it wouldn't be that bad." Harry said, after the laughter had died down.

He extended his arm to get his glasses, which had detached themselves from his face upon impact.

"Oh, shut up!" Draco said, slapping his face lightly.

Harry pretended it hurt. "Ow!"he said, but he giggled right after.

"I hate you, Potter." said the Slytherin, biting his nose. That made Harry grimace.

"Will you stop hurting me?" Harry whined, making a puppy face.

"Ugh, you know I can't stand this damned face of yours!" Draco said in a fake angry voice.

"Which face, this one?" Said Harry, maintaining his puppy face.

Draco let out a sigh of frustration mixed with a squeal, then he planted a kiss on his lips.

Only minutes later the pair was able to at least sit up. That's when Draco remembered that he had a question to ask him. "So, as you know, Christmas is close." he began, although he thought that what he had just said sounded a bit dumb.

"Oh, about that!" Harry said, remembering something. "I've been meaning to ask you... will you spend Christmas with me at the Weasleys'?" he asked.

That was not quite what Draco expected. The Weasleys weren't so fond of him, to say the least. Arthur Weasley had his fair share of discrepancies with Lucius, so he didn't think that he would have welcomed him into his home with open arms.

"The Weasleys? Oh, but... you know that they don't exactly _love me_..." Draco answered.

"But, they're like my family! I'm sure they wouldn't mind. I know that there's always been a lot of hate between your family and theirs, but hey, it's Christmas." Harry explained, but Draco wasn't convinced just yet.

"I don't know..." The blond boy said, looking away.

"Look, you're free to choose. But I would love to spend Christmas with you. I could stay here, but I already promised Molly I'd go..." Harry said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Draco sighed, he wasn't too ecstatic at the thought of spending the holidays with a family who didn't like him. But Christmas at Hogwarts, at this point, wouldn't include his lover. So, he figured he could make an effort.

"Ok, fine." Draco said.

"Ahh that's going to be great! I can hardly wait!" Harry said, excitedly. Then, he kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "You will see, it will be so much fun! Molly always makes us those ugly jumpers for Christmas!"

Draco remembered those jumpers from a few years back, they were truly horrible.

"Sorry, we're late!" said a puffing Hermione. She waved a hand in the air at the pair, then she skated towards them. Draco was baffled to see that she had such graceful movements on that damned ice. She literally looked like she had walked to them. Ron, on the other hand, was struggling to move an inch. "Oh, Accio Ron's skates!" Hermione said. Her boyfriend flew straight to her, screaming a little.

"Hermione's fault this time." Ron said, defending himself. "She didn't know what to wear. Girls, right?" He shook his head.

Hermione gasped. "Well, at least I don't just throw on the first thing that comes to hand!"

"And you had to put up with this for 7 years?" Draco asked his boyfriend in an undertone.

"Yeah. This is nothing." Harry responded, laughing softly. "Hi, friends!"he then said to them.

Hermione helped him up, while Ron awkwardly helped Draco.

"We were just discussing Christmas." said Draco, after letting go of Ron's hand.

"Oh so you told him." Ron said, looking at Harry, who nodded.

"Yeah, Weasl- um - Ron! Thanks for inviting me." Draco said.

"Actually, that was my mother's idea... She said she's willing to put the past behind now that you're Harry's boyfriend." Ron said. "Although, my dad doesn't know yet..."

* * *

That afternoon, in the Gryffindor common room, Ginny was sitting by herself, scribbling on a piece of parchment.

She and Luna hadn't discussed their under-the-mistletoe kiss further, as she wasn't sure what it had actually meant. She had felt the so called 'sparks' kissing her, but did that mean that she was in love with her? Was their friendship turning into something more? Even if she didn't know what that was, that had surely taken her mind off of things for a bit.

But now that she was alone, doing her homework, she couldn't help thinking about how awkward Christmas would have been.

"Hey sis!" Ron greeted her. He was walking funny, she noticed. "Don't mind my walk, I fell on ice and landed on my tailbone." He then sat next to her, flinching slightly.

"Has Harry found a replacement yet?" Ginny asked bluntly.

"Oh no, I wanted to talk about something else." Ron turned to face his sister. "You will have the chance to make amends with Harry and Malfoy, since he's spending Christmas with us."

 _Draco Malfoy_ was spending Christmas with her family. The families had been clashing for decades. She wondered how that could have ever worked. But, his presence meant that she could go on and speak to them without the possibility of them running away from her.

"Oh I don't know if she told you, but... Luna is coming too, for Christmas. Dad's invited Xenophilius."

Ginny suddenly lightened up, "Oh, but that's great!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, Mum's going to go mad, there will be like... thirteen people in her house!"

Ron said, after counting on his fingers to be sure.

"Oh, Ron..." Ginny suddenly turned sad. "This will be our first Christmas without Fred."

Their brother, Fred, had died in May. They didn't talk about him much, mostly to numb the excruciating pain his death had brought, but Ginny knew that he would be mentioned at Christmas.

"I know, sis. I miss him too." Ron said, sadly. "But he wouldn't want us to be this sad, he would want us to have fun."He put his arm around his sister's shoulders.

"Ah yeah, he would definitely pull an amazing prank on us, straight from his joke shop." Ginny chuckled, putting her head on her brother's shoulder.

Some days later, on Christmas eve, most students were ready to go back home for the Holidays.

Ron, Hermione, Draco and Harry were all sitting in the same compartment on the train, with the same positioning scheme as their double date in Hogsmeade.

"I'm so nervous!" Draco said. He was going to spend the next two weeks of his life with the Weasleys, the very people he had treated like scum for years. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Relax, Draco." Harry said, massaging his boyfriend's shoulder lightly.

"Ron, did you tell your dad?" the Slytherin asked.

"Um... no. Mum said that he never would have agreed to that, so... she said a surprise would be better." Ron said. He, too, seemed a bit nervous.

"Oh, now I'm even more nervous! He will totally kick me out." Draco muttered in his hands.

"I don't think so," said Hermione. "I mean, they didn't react badly to the news of you two being a thing." She pointed out.

"Ginny is the one who worries me." said Harry, shifting a bit into his seat.

"Oh please, don't start again!" Hermione said in a reprimanding tone.

"This could be the right chance to clear things up." said Ron.

"We will see." said Harry.

Although his friends were expecting some kind of reconciliation between him and Ginny, he wasn't up for it. He was only hoping that the girl wouldn't replicate her Great Hall Harry and Draco bashing as a Christmas present.

He wanted to spend a civil Christmas.


	10. Christmas Tales

When the Hogwarts Express arrived in King's Cross, the two couples were among the first people to get off the train. But they couldn't go to the Burrow just yet, as they were supposed to apparate there and Luna and Ginny, being sixth years, couldn't do it on their own.

Therefore, they could only do the side-along apparition.

"I'm not apparating with _her."_ Harry said, referring to Ginny.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I volunteer to apparate with them." she said, then she walked to the girls. Ginny was visibly tense as she saw her approach.

"Take my arms, you two." Hermione ordered.

Luna linked her arm with hers, smiling. "I love apparating. It's so cool, it makes you feel like you're stuck in a vortex of fun."She said. The bushy haired girl giggled at her excitement.

Hermione noticed Ginny's uneasiness, so she turned to her. "Hey, Gin, it's ok. I'm not mad at you anymore. I can see that you regret what you did. And soon, Harry will come around."

Ginny nodded, then she grabbed her arm.

The three girls apparated, Luna screaming of joy.

Ron followed suit.

Harry and Draco, though, were still on platform nine and three-quarters.

"Babe, are you ok?" Harry asked, since his boyfriend looked like he was about to pass out.

"Yeah, just... a bit anxious." Draco said. His anxiety hadn't left him, on the contrary, now that he was about to go to the house of a family who didn't see eye to eye with his, it was increasing by the second.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not that relaxed, either... with Ginny and all... and I feel like I'm introducing you to my parents, really." Harry chuckled nervously.

"Ah, fuck it." said Draco, turning around to face his boyfriend. "Who cares what they say? All that matters is we're together." He then offered his forearm for him to hold.

Harry grabbed it with a smile and repeated, "Together." Then, they disapparated from the Platform.

* * *

The six of them were all outside the Burrow, now.

Luna was not over the apparition yet, as she was jumping around contentedly.

Ginny had to fight the urge to grab her and kiss her.

"Mum, it's us! Open up!" Ron shouted.

It was Bill , the oldest of the Weasley children, who opened the door. "Hey family!" he exclaimed, with open arms.

Ron and Ginny accepted the hug invitation.

"Hey, bro!" Ron said happily. "How are you? How's Fleur?"

"Oh she's fine." Bill responded. "She's helping mum with some preparations for tomorrow." His attention then settled on the others. "Hi Hermione, Luna! And of course, Harry!" Bill shook his hand. He didn't seem to have noticed Draco, so it was Draco who greeted him.

"Hi, Bill, right?" he said.

"Oh, right, hi, Malfoy." Bill said, no emphasis whatsoever. "So it's true, then? You're together?"

Harry nodded, then everyone entered the house.

Draco had never seen it from the inside before. It looked definitely old, he observed, but it had that atmosphere of cosiness that he could not ignore. It looked much like the tree house that he used to have in his own garden as a kid, for there was a lot of wood on the walls and ceiling.

He had the impression that it would fall apart any minute, as the floor creaked after he stepped foot on it, but it surely felt warmer than his enormous Manor.

"Oh, here they are!" said Molly, as she ran towards the children with open arms and the brightest smile Draco had ever seen.

Ginny was the first one she greeted, pulling her in a bone crushing hug.

Ginny smiled, apparently her mother couldn't stay mad at her for too long.

She felt so silly for thinking that her own family wouldn't have given her a warm welcome.

"I hope you behaved." Her mother whispered to her, then she pulled away and pinched her cheek.

Molly then went to hug Hermione and Ron. "I hope he's treating you right, dear!" She said to Hermione, winking.

"Oh, yeah, he's very lovely." the girl said with a smile. "But, really... I can't get him to match clothes!"

Molly glared at her son, putting her arms on her waist. "When will you learn?" But it was clear that she wasn't really scolding him, as her smile betrayed her.

Last but no least, she threw herself at Harry. "Oh, Harry, dear!" she said, still smiling.

Draco stood there, awkwardly. He watched as the woman planted a kiss on Harry's head, they looked so cute it made him a little sad. He wonder if he would ever be this adorable with his mother again.

"Ah, and who do we have here, little Malfoy." Molly finally said, acknowledging his presence.

Draco couldn't read her facial expression, he wasn't sure what it meant, to be honest. It felt a bit weird for him, since he had called her the worst fat shaming names in the past.

"Hello." He simply said, waving his hand. The Weasley mother walked closer to him and hugged him. "Welcome to the family." She said, leaving Draco at a loss for words.

Then she pulled away and went to say hi to Luna.

So, it had gone well with Mrs Weasley, but her husband was nowhere to be found, still.

Turns out, Arthur had gone to fetch George and Angelina in Diagon Alley, but they were stuck inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, due to the snow.  
The floo powder was not at option, as the snow had fallen inside of the chimney, thus blocking it.  
And, since all three of them were too tired to apparate, they thought it would be best to wait until the morning after.

Draco felt his anxiety grow. He had to wait one more day to face him.

Everyone moved to the living room, where Fleur was meticulously setting an ornament on the Christmas tree. It was a snow ball containing a small replica of the Beauxbatons castle.

"Oh, Arry, how good to see you!" She said at the sight of her former Triwizard fellow.

"And Rrron! My brother in law!" She greeted him with a sound kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Fleur!" Ron said, blushing instantly. He was looking at her with dreamy eyes and his mouth dropped, waving his hand like a fool.

Hermione slapped him across the face so hard that her hand print exceeded the redness of the blushing.

"Ow, baby! You know I only have eyes for you, that's just the quarter-veela thing!" Ron defended himself, massaging his cheek.

"Do it again and I'll hex you." his girlfriend warned.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't affected by Fleur's presence, at all. He exploded in a sound laugh. "Ron used to have a crush on her, once." he explained to his boyfriend.

"So did you." Draco said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

Harry's face turned as red as Ron's hair. "Not at all!" he said.

"Not what Hermione told me." said Draco.

"It was four years ago! I was confused!" Harry said, defensively.

Draco made a face that seemed angry, but he was hiding a smile. He wanted to play a little.

"Be careful, if you don't want your pants to catch fire!" he said, trying to suppress a sneer.

"Oh, come on!" Harry said, putting his arms around his lover's neck. "You know that my biggest crush was you."

"That's what I thought. She's simply a magical skank." Draco said, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're cute when you're jealous." Harry giggled, then he pulled him into a sweet kiss.

"Ah, aren't they cute?" Luna said to Ginny, while rocking slightly back and forth. "they don't need a mistletoe." she said vaguely.

Ginny caught her subtlety immediately. Their kiss had not been mentioned, until now.

"Look, Luna," Ginny began, after taking a breath. "What happened between us... it was just a kiss... no more. We are just two friends who happened to kiss." she said, although she knew that this sentence was inconsistent with her real thoughts on the matter.

"If you say so." Luna shrugged. "Ah, it's so warm here, don't you think?" She said, removing her coat, revealing a low-cut purple dress, with a giant bright pink bow tied around her waist.

She was definitely teasing her, now. Ginny couldn't help staring at her cleavage.

They all spent a very calm , happy Christmas eve night. They went to bed pretty early, as they were knackered because of the long journey from Hogwarts.

Because the Burrow had five bedrooms, each couple was granted their privacy, at least for the first night.

Ginny had to share her bedroom with Luna, so they slept in the same bed, Luna sporting a provocative position now and again. She was determined to seduce her, it seemed. But Ginny fought her urges.

* * *

The next morning, everyone but Fleur, Bill and Molly woke up late, at around eleven.

"Morning, dears! Merry Christmas!" said a singing Molly as Ron, Hermione, Harry, Draco, Ginny and Luna descended the stairs, looking very sleepy. "The journey to London killed you, eh? But no worry, the lunch Fleur and I prepared is enough to wake you up." Then she trotted to the kitchen.

"Where is my Luna?" Luna's father's voice echoed through the Burrow.

"Dad!" Luna said, then she ran to him.

Everyone watched as they greeted each other with a weird secret handshake, which ended in the father flying his daughter in the air.

"Did you find a way to fight crumple horned snorkacks?" Xenophilius asked his daughter, after he put her down.

"Not yet, but I'm not giving up." Luna responded.

Draco looked at them, smiling.

However, his smile was cut short when he heard voices coming from outside.

They were George, Angelina and Arthur. Draco gulped nervously.

Seconds later, the door flung open, revealing the three of them, covered in snow from head to toe.

"Ah, what an adventure!" Arthur exclaimed while entering the house. Molly ran to him, gave him a kiss on the lips and then removed his coat. "Finally! We were beginning to worry!" The woman said, putting her husband's coat on the hook.

"Hello, everyone!" Said George and Angelina in unison.

"Hey, guys!" Harry said, running happily to them. "Quidditch is too weird without you!"

George didn't look so good, but his recent attachment to his ex class mate, Angelina Johnson, had brought him back to work, at least. He had an unkempt beard and his hair was all over the place, but at least he was out of bed.

Percy suddenly appeared.

"Hi, Percy." he said to himself, in a mocking tone, since no one was giving him a shred of attention. "So good to see you, brother." he said.

"Well, Merry Christmas everyone!" Arthur said, happily. "Hope you behaved!" He chuckled, but his happiness was cut short when he noticed that Draco, Lucius' son, was standing right in the middle of his house.

"What is _he_ doing here?" he said. Everyone fell silent.

"Oh, he's spending Christmas with us, dear." said Molly, giggling nervously.

"You're joking, right? What were you thinking, inviting _Malfoy's son_ to our house?"

"Oh come on, Arthur! He's Harry's boyfriend, he wanted to spend-" Molly began, but her husband cut her off.

"I do not want him in my house!" He snapped furiously.

"He's right." Draco said. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have..." that said, he rushed off upstairs.

"Babe, wait!" said, Harry, running after his boyfriend.

"What is up with you, dad?" Ginny yelled to her dad. "You'll ruin Christmas for everyone!"

Then, she ran after the pair.

"Happy now, Arthur?" Molly said in a reprimanding tone.

"But, he's Lucius' son, honey!" Arthur argued.

"So, what? Could have been Voldemort's son for all that matters, if Harry loves him!"

When the Weasley girl arrived upstairs, in Fred and George's old bedroom, where Harry and Draco had slept the night before, she found the couple sitting on the bed. Draco was crying, arguing that his boyfriend should have left him at Hogwarts.

"I never would have left you alone." Harry was saying when Ginny spoke.

"This is all my fault." she said. She was standing at the door, thus facing the two of them.

"What do you want?" Harry spat. "Can't you see that this is not a good time?"

"Please, listen to me." Ginny pleaded. She was fidgeting with her hands, apparently from the nervousness.

"I don't want to listen to-" Harry said, but he was interrupted by a nudge in the ribs from his boyfriend. "ow!"

"Let her speak." said Draco.

"What I did," Ginny continued, wiping her sweaty hands on her legs. "I know that there are no excuses, but I did it out of jealousy, anger... but mostly, I acted like a little girl. I wish I could take it all back, but here we are. I'm really, really sorry. I was a bitch and I ruined your lives... especially yours, Draco."

"Yeah, you were a bitch." Draco confirmed.

"I know, I should have accepted this... Harry loves you. And I see that, every day at school... and I'm happy for you. Yes, and I will try to make life easier for the both of you." Ginny finished. She swallowed, anticipating their response. She was hoping they wouldn't kick her out of the room.

"Look, Ginny," said Draco, looking at her. "My dad is a piece of shit. I didn't lose much, really."

Ginny nodded.

Harry sighed, then he spoke, "Ginny, I'm really sorry if I hurt you. But, I figured it would be best to break up with you than actually cheat on you." He got up and walked over to her.  
"And I'm sorry if I fooled you, in any way. I was going through emotional turmoil, as I didn't know who I was. Now, I do. And I am, as you said, in love with Draco." As he said that, he looked at his boyfriend, who was smiling. He turned back to Ginny and continued with his speech.  
"Lastly, know that I don't think you are unworthy of love. Someone will love you, I'm sure of it. It just won't be me. As for your Great Hall thing- you know me. I believe in second chances. I figure you deserve it, too."  
As he finished, he put his hand on her shoulder.  
There it was, forgiveness. Ginny couldn't believe it, Harry had just _forgiven_ her. She let out a long sigh of relief.

"Oh, Harry! Thank you!" She said, wrapping her arms around him. "I hope we can be friends now."

"It's what we've always been, after all, friends." Harry observed. True, their relationship wasn't much more special than a friendship, except for the kissing bit.

"Oh, and, Draco..." the girl said as she pulled away from Harry. "Don't mind my dad. You will see, he will be fine with it. Let's go back."

"Fine, Molly. But I'm only giving him one chance!" Arthur said, ready to walk upstairs to talk to Draco, but stopped as he saw that he, Harry and Ginny were all coming down.

"Don't bother, dad, I retrieved them myself." His daughter said.

"Oh, Draco..." he said, looking at Molly, who nodded for him to continue. "I think I owe you an apology."

"All water under the bridge, Mr Weasley." Draco said with a smile.

Arthur nodded in response.

"Well, won't you go to the kitchen now! Christmas lunch is ready!" Mrs Weasley said.

* * *

"Bon appetit!" said Molly ten minutes later, as everyone was now in their seats.

The line went Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna on the right side of the table, while on the left side sat Molly, Percy, George, Angelina, Bill and Fleur. Arthur was the head of the table, sitting between his wife and Harry.

That said, everyone happily dug into the turkey and roasted vegetables.

Arthur cleared his throat. "I'd like to make a toast." He shouted, capturing everyone's attention.

He looked at the head seat opposite his, which was empty. "To our Fred, hoping he's spending a marvelous Christmas in Heaven if there is one, filled with fireworks and jokes. Fred, we miss you every day!" As he finished his speech, Arthur gave a sob. His wife hugged him from her seat, fighting her own tears. Everyone was sad, now. George fought the urge to leave the room, but his girlfriend grabbed him by his hand, giving him a comforting smile.

"To Fred!" Bill said, breaking the tear-filled silence.

"To Fred!" the others repeated, smiling through the tears and raising their glasses.

The lunch went on fine and it culminated with a chocolate sponge cake log called a "bûche de Noël", a dessert that was usually eaten in France as a Christmas Tradition. Fleur had spent a good amount of the afternoon of the day before making it alongside Mrs Weasley.

"Time for the presents!" Molly said excitedly.

"I wonder what it will be." Ron said, jokingly.

"I can already see the jumper through the wrapping!" said Ginny, shaking her head.

Ron wasn't surprised when he saw that his package contained a red jumper with a brown letter "R" knitted on. Well, at least it wasn't maroon.

Everyone received their own Weasley Christmas jumper, even Draco, much to his surprise.

His was grey, with a green "D" on top. The whole ensemble suggested Slytherin.

"Wow, they are not so bad." Draco said, wearing his jumper. "It keeps me very warm."

Harry looked at him with widened eyes. "Are you serious? You're, like, the only one who truly finds it appealing!"

"Just wear yours." Draco said, rolling his eyes.

Harry eventually did. Molly had made his opposite to Ron's. - brown, with a red "H".

"Oh right, shoot, almost forgot." said Harry, flicking his wand. Then, a present appeared. "My present for you."

"Oh, I have yours, too." Draco said, then he summoned a package. It was quite big, but harry couldn't make out what it looked like.

"You, first." said Harry, putting his present in his boyfriend's hands.

Draco slowly unwrapped it, Harry watching while smirking.

The boy gasped at the sight of a mini potions set.

"Given your love for potions," Harry explained, "I thought you'd like this miniature set, so that you could make any potion you like, wherever you go. Courtesy of George there."

"Wow, it's really cool! I guess I will make some irritating potion for you when you get under my skin, Potter." Draco said teasingly. "Now, yours."

Harry's gift looked a bit heavy as Draco lifted it with difficulty.

Harry proceeded to open it as fast as a kid would.

The moment he began unwrapping, he knew what it was. His mouth dropped as he saw a cage with a tiny owl inside. It was a snowy owl, looking exactly like his late Hedwig, except for some brown spots on its head.

"Ron and Hermione played a part in this." said Draco.

"Yeah, I heard you cry at night, sometimes, because of Hedwig!" said Ron.

"I picked him!" Hermione intervened, smiling. She was holding a book, which Ron must have given her as a gift.

"He's... he's great! Thank you!" Harry said to the three of them, wiping a tear. "Thanks, babe, I love you." he then said to Draco.

"You, too." said Draco, giving him an Eskimo kiss. "Oh, he already had a name, though. He's called Viridis, if that's alright."

The rest of the Christmas day was spent exchanging presents, singing and eating biscuits in front of the fireplace.

Hermione had given Harry a box of Chocolate Frogs, while Ron had bought him a decoration for Viridis' cage. Harry had given Hermione a new quill. His gift to Ron was a box of Honeydukes exploding bon bons.

Luna had made a miniature mistletoe for Ginny, while Ginny had bought her a pair of shoes. "So the nargles won't leave you barefoot." She said to her.

Luna's mistletoe was yet another way of reminding the redhead of their kiss, but, still, she wouldn't acknowledge it.

That night, as Draco lay in bed next to a sleeping Harry, he thought that this had been the best Christmas of his life.

Could have ended even better if it weren't for the fact that they had to share their bedroom with Percy.


	11. Ear Gloves

**Chapter Warning : girl on girl, NSFW**

The next days went by pretty fast, in a blissful motion of things. They were filled with backyard Quidditch, snow ball fighting, hot chocolates and muffins.

On New Year's Eve, though, Hermione had to leave, as she had promised her parents she would spend that day with them. Ron didn't go with her, as he wasn't ready to meet her parents just yet.

He didn't feel like leaving Harry in his mother's grasp without him, anyway.

Draco and Harry were happy to find out that Percy had an urgency at work, so he had to rush to The Ministry and couldn't stay any longer.

Now, they had the room all to themselves.

Bill, Fleur, Xenophilius, George and Angelina had to leave, too, so that the only people left at the Burrow were Mr and Mrs Weasley, Ron, Harry, Draco, Ginny and Luna.

Molly had a very special New Year's Eve planned.

She had organised a wizard's chess tournament. It had to end before midnight, though, and the winner would be granted a special gift.

Right after dinner, Mrs Weasley pulled out a heavy, old set of Wizard's Chess out of a box. As she placed it on the table, it blew dust everywhere.

Only a few months before, Draco would have been disturbed by the dust, but in that moment he didn't seem to mind.

The first match was played by Arthur and Molly, who knew the set very well.

Everyone watched, holding their breaths as the chessmen ruthlessly destroyed each other.

In the end, Molly was a triumphant winner- she won 5 times in a row against Ginny, Draco, Harry and, in the end, Ron.

The only one left was Luna. Molly was sure that she would beat her as well.

After infinite plot twists, the winner was Luna, much to the surprise of everyone.

The special gift was a pair of hand knitted gloves, that Luna promptly wore on her ears.

It was still early, there was still an hour left to midnight.  
They would have done the countdown in the garden, as they were going to watch magic fireworks, courtesy of George.

* * *

After Wizard's Chess, Harry and Draco moved to their room with Ron, as he wouldn't stop moping around because of Hermione's absence.

"I mean, Mione had to go to that stupid muggle teeth doctor party just to please her parents,

couldn't she just say no?" He whined, as he was pacing the floor.

Draco was sitting on the bed, while Harry was on his lap.

"Well she hasn't seen her parents in four months, can you blame her?" said a nearly exasperated Harry. Although, neither he nor Draco could have possibly related to how she must have felt.

"Yeah, but... I mean, this is a special occasion... You say maybe I could have gone with her? It's not like they invited me or anything." Ron complained. Sometimes, he was worse than Hermione when it came to sulking.

"Worry not, you will see her soon. Why spoil New Year's? When you meet again, you will have a lot of cool stories to tell." Draco reassured, giving him a comforting smile.

Ron stopped walking and gave him a look. He was right, there was no denying in that, but he was right there, in his house, alongside his boyfriend.

"You're right, Draco, but if Harry weren't with you right now, you would be sad too." he said.

True. If Draco had spent the whole of Christmas Break alone in Hogwarts, he would not have left his bed. He had become somewhat dependent on Harry, he had created a routine with him which included seeing him daily, sleeping in the same bed... as of now, the thought of even a week without him was unbearable, as he was all that he had.

"And that's why we can feel your pain, Ron." said Draco, "But Hermione would want you to have fun with us here. I'm sure she misses you too, but she's trying to enjoy her time with her family. And you should too, while you can. We will do our best to make it as good as possible for you."

Ron blinked, hardly believing his ears. He had not gotten used to the fact that this was Draco Malfoy. The same Draco Malfoy who had bullied him for years... was now in his home, sitting on his brother's bed, giving him advice while Harry was on his lap.

He had to admit that, throughout the last two months, they had bonded to an extent.

After all, he was always around, would sleep in his dorm... he was becoming fond of him.

Not to mention, the lad was a good laugh, especially when a butterbeer was put in front of him.

"Thanks, Draco." He said, grinning at him. "And Harry. For putting up with me. But don't tell Hermione how I've been, ok?"

"We won't." The couple said in unison, although they had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

"Ok, now I'm gonna go get changed for dad's photo. You should too." Ron said, then he left the room, heading towards his.

"I saw that." Harry said to Draco with a 'you can't keep things from me' look.

"Saw what?" Draco asked innocently.

"The way your smile dropped when Ron said the thing about me not being with you for today." said Harry.

Harry Bloody Potter could see everything, there was no way Draco could ever keep his feelings to himself. Not when it came to him.

"Well..." Draco sighed. "I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this Holiday with you. Without you, I would have been miserable... but you made it perfect. How is it that you always make everything better?"

His boyfriend was smiling uncontrollably at his words. "No, thank you for accepting to come here, in spite of your old feuds, all out of love. Really, how many people can say they have a boyfriend as good as you?"

Draco couldn't help blushing as he heard this. Harry was really a sweet talker.

"You're such a flatterer, you know that?" The Slytherin said, as he gave him a peck on the lips.

"Mmm." Harry said, smiling into the kiss. "I'm a natural, I reckon."

"Shut up, Potter!" said Draco, slapping his face playfully.

"You agree with my statement, don't deny that." Harry winked.

"You are simply a _nincompoop_ , is all you are." Draco teased.

Harry burst into a tear-filled laugh after that.

"What?" Draco asked, confused.

"I'm a what? A nincompoop? Where did you learn this word?" said Harry, nearly falling from Draco's lap.

"I happen to have a wide ranged vocabulary." Draco said, pompously.

"And I happen to love you, like only a _nincompoop_ can love." the black haired boy said after his laughing had died down.

"You're terrible." said Draco, going in for a second kiss.

"Ah ah." Harry said, after noticing that his boyfriend had grabbed his butt. "We have to get changed. And besides, Viridis is watching." he said, pointing to the judging owl in front of them.

"Fine." Draco groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, who said we won't have some fun later? It will be a cool way to _slither_ into the New Year." Harry said, getting up.

Draco simply shook his head. _What a tease._

He couldn't be more excited to start the new year, he was sure that it would be pretty good, if Harry was by his side.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ginny was in her bedroom, as her dad had urged everyone to change into their elegant clothes for the 'special fireworks photo of 1999'.

"Do you think I look cute like this?" Luna asked Ginny, while entering the room.

Her innocent smile faded as she noticed that the other girl was sitting on her bed, only wearing her underwear.

Ginny's body was so beautiful that Luna couldn't keep her mouth from gaping.

"Oh, sorry..." she said, blushing furiously.

Ginny's face turned crimson red, but she didn't cover her body. "Oh, no problem."

"So um... do you think I'm cute with ear gloves?" Luna asked her for a second time, as she sat in the bed next to the other girl.

The blonde was indeed very cute with her blue gloves placed on her ears.

"Yes." Ginny answered.

As the girls' gazes met, Ginny began thinking.  
She had been holding back after their kiss, thinking that, maybe, she didn't really have feelings for Luna, but, looking at her being all cute and, well, _Luna_ , she thought differently.  
She suddenly didn't care that Luna was a girl anymore.  
Ginny had learnt, as she grew, that nothing in life was ever a guarantee, so she figured it would make sense to try something new and leaving her fear behind.  
She wondered if the other girl's eyes had ever been more beautiful, two crystalline drops of silver.

Luna held her breath as she leaned in, then, as their lips crashed together, she heard fireworks in her head.

She didn't mind that her ear gloves had just fallen away from her.

This was different than their first kiss, this one was filled with want, encircled in a ring of exploding fire.

Luna deepened the kiss, making it more passionate.

Her thoughts wandered back to her fantasies about the girl. They were finally coming to life.

She had waited so long for Ginny to finally see the light. She knew that their under-the-mistletoe kiss had moved something inside her, but this time Ginny had taken the initiative and Luna couldn't feel more euphoric.

Their eyes locked, their breaths uneven, as the feeling of excitement towards exploring new territories pervaded them.

"I want to make love to you." Luna whispered, maintaining eye contact.

"So do I." Ginny murmured as she pulled Luna into yet another passion filled kiss.

She ran her hands through her hair as she grew more and more aroused.

Luna broke their kiss to bring her lips onto the other girl's neck.

Ginny's heart began to race uncontrollably, she felt warmth creeping up her whole body as Luna's mouth attacked her neck deliciously.

Harry had never made her feel like that just by kissing her on the neck. Now she was sure that she didn't like boys, at all.

Luna stopped torturing her neck to give her a lust-filled look. Her pearly eyes were almost fully black with desire.

Ginny's frantic hands removed Luna's "L" jumper, leaving her in her bra.

Her breath caught in her throat as she admired Luna's almost naked body.

It was beautiful, the light in her room made her pale body shine, thus looking like she was made of marble.

With trembling hands, she unhooked Luna's bra and threw it to the ground.

Luna took off Ginny's brassiere as well.

Both girls had their breasts exposed to the other, feeling mesmerized at the artsy view.

Luna, Ginny thought, looked like a veela. There was nothing that Ginny didn't like about her physique.

Ginny lay carefully down on her bed, letting her hair down sensually.

Luna thought that Ginny, in that moment, looked like a strawberry, her favourite fruit- her body was filled with freckles and it was embellished by her fiery red locks.

Luna straddled her, taking in the breathtaking view. Then, she carefully placed a hand on each breast, squeezing them softly.

Ginny emitted a soft moan of pleasure, Luna knew just what she liked, it seemed.

The blonde let go of the other girl's breasts, moving her hands towards the girls red lacy underpants. She gave her a questioning look as to ask for permission. Ginny nodded for her to continue.

As requested, Luna slowly removed the Gryffindor's panties, smiling as she saw that they were soaked.

This was it, Ginny was about to lose her virginity. Now, she knew why she had never been intimate with any of her boyfriends. They just didn't have this effect on her.

Then, the blonde kissed her way down her lover's abdomen, until she reached her crotch.

She wrapped her arms around her thighs, so that her face was as close to her vulva as possible.

With no further hesitation she began eating Ginny out.

She tasted so, so good, even better than she had imagined. With every flick of her tongue, she brought Ginny to beautiful places.

As she sucked on her clitoris, Ginny grabbed the sheets and tried to suppress a moan, all the while her toes curled in pleasure.

Her whole body shook as her orgasm dangerously threatened to take over her.

"Luna!" Ginny cried out as she inadvertently came.

It took her a while to regain her senses and realise what Luna had just done to her.

When she was lucid again, she thought it only made sense to return her 'favour'.

Luna didn't worry about making sounds, as she had already soundproofed Ginny's bedroom, in hope that they'd be having sex there.

Boy, was she right.

* * *

Minutes later, both girls rushed downstairs as the clock stroke two minutes to the beginning of the new year.

Draco, Harry and Ron were already outside, while Arthur was setting his son's firecrackers.

"Time to see the show!" Arthur shouted.

Luna and Ginny came outside, holding hands, jumping excitedly in anticipation.

When the clock stroke midnight, they dived into a sweet kiss.

"1999!" Everyone shouted.

"Woo! Happy New Year!" Ron screamed, clapping his hands at the sight of the Dragon-shaped fireworks.

Harry and Draco kissed, too, then followed suit.

Luna and Ginny's kiss was unnoticed.

When they parted, both of them were smiling at each other. "I will be your girlfriend, by the way!' Ginny said. "If you want me to!"

Luna nodded frantically. Then, she gave one of her gloves to Ginny for her to put on her ear.  
The girl did, laughing. Then, she held Luna close as they watched the marvelous pyrotechnics.


	12. Of Flying Brooms And Roommates

Two months later, at the beginning of March, the relationship between the two girls was still a secret, as they weren't ready to be out just yet.  
Draco and Harry, though, were beginning to suspect that something was off between them.

They were acting a little too sweet to each other, for them to be friends.

For one, they would always be sitting close, they would hold hands and call each other "love" or "babe".

Also, for Luna's birthday in February, Ginny had kissed her on the cheek and given her flowers. And on Valentine's day they had gone to Madam Puddifoot's, instead of spending the day with their friends at the Three Broomsticks.

However, they didn't want to force them into coming out, so they chose not to say anything.

* * *

That Sunday a Quidditch match was in order, Gryffindor vs Slytherin.  
The two boyfriends had not played against each other yet, not since their romance had blossomed, so they both took it as a fun challenge.  
"I'm so nervous!" Ginny said, that day at breakfast.  
"Don't worry, Ginny Poo." Luna said, adoringly. "You're the best chaser in the team!"  
Harry and Draco looked at each other. Their suspicion was close to being confirmed.  
"She's afraid to play against us." Draco said teasingly.  
"Oh, shut up, Malfoy. I think _you_ are." Ginny smirked.  
Ever since her Christmas apology, Ginny had formed a bond with the pair.  
In the last two months, she and Draco had developed a friendship filled with funny bickerings and teasing.

"Don't talk like this to my boyfriend, Ginny." Harry warned jokingly.  
"Be careful, Weasley girl," Draco said. "If You don't want a bludger to hit you in the face."  
"Tone down the threatening, babe." Said Harry. "Remember that I'm your most dreadful foe today."  
"Yeah, sure. I'll try not to win too much." Draco teased. "Either way, you will end up with a sore ass, as I'll throw you off your broom."

"May the best team win!" Said Ron, although he felt even more nervous than his sister.

* * *

"Go Ginny! Go Gryffindor!" Luna cheered, she was in the Gryffindor bleachers, wearing her famous Lion Hat.

She was sitting next to Hermione, who had brought two pairs of binoculars.

The commentator for that day was Miss Sivan, who, to everyone's surprise, was a big fan of Quidditch. She was perfect for the job, since she had been a Hufflepuff in her Hogwarts years, so she wouldn't have taken sides.

"May the Captains shake hands." Madam Hooch instructed.

Draco had become the new Team Captain, so he had to shake hands with Harry.

"May Slytherin win." Draco said to his boyfriend, while he shook his hand.

"The saying is 'may the best team win' not 'may the worst team win'." Harry said with a wink, earning a death stare.

Not long after the match had started, Ginny was taking a hold of the quaffle.

"Quaffle in the hands of Miss Weasley- Seeker Potter of Gryffindor has seen the Snitch, he's flying his way to it - Slytherin has now gained the quaffle... Slytherin about to score... Keeper Ronald Weasley stops it!" Miss Sivan was saying, while watching the game in awe. Her hair was tied in two very fairy-like buns, but it still spilled glitter.

Harry sped up to the Snitch, his boyfriend doing the same.  
"Out of the way, Potter!" Draco spat jokingly, placing himself in front of him, thus cutting him off.

"You wish, baby." Harry said with a wink, then he flew around him and continued going his way. "I'll get it."

"Seeker Potter and Seeker Malfoy are both close to the Snitch..." Miss Sivan continued.

They were now flying side to side, lightly pushing each other around.

"Quit the gay shit!" Blaise shouted from his seat.

Hermione rolled her eyes at that. "He's just too vile." she said to Luna.

Thankfully, the pair didn't seem to be bothered by him.

"Slytherin scores!"

The Slytherin's side all roared in chants of excitement, including Blaise.

Hermione gave a moan of annoyance, putting her binoculars down. "Ah, Ron, come on! You can do better!" She shouted.

Luna was wearing them wrong, so she saw the players even farther than they were. "Wow, why are they so far from us?" She asked naively.

The brunette gave a giggle and fixed them for her. "Here."

"Oh now I can see... Ginny, baby! Get the Quaffle!" She cheered for her girlfriend.

Hermione gave her a look at the word 'baby'.  
She had noticed that, ever since Christmas, the two girls seemed more... United than they had been before.  
Luna wasn't certainly used to calling everyone "Baby."

"Ginevra Weasley now in possession of the Quaffle- that was close! Good skills, girl!" Adrastea Sivan said, whistling. Ginny had just dodged a Bludger.

"Gotcha!" Harry exclaimed, the Golden Snitch firmly between his fingers.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" the commentator yelled.

The Gryffindor crowd boomed in cheering and applause, Luna and Hermione hugged happily.

"Told you, babe." Harry said to Draco, sticking his tongue out.

His boyfriend continued glaring at him.

"Yeah you just wait until next time." said The Slytherin.

"Yeah, keep dreaming." said Harry, teasingly. Then he flew closer to him.

Then, they kissed in mid air. The Crowd cheered louder, except some Slytherins, who booed.

Hermione, Luna and the two Weasleys all felt extremely proud of their friends for that gesture.

"Enough with this disgusting crap!" Blaise's voice boomed. "That should be banned!"

* * *

That night, at dinner, Harry still had some scarlet and gold confetti in his hair from the celebration in the Common Room. Luna had been invited, too. Draco had not attended, as he was the Captain of the losing team. He was supposed to speak to the Headmistress, anyway.

"I'm not forgiving you for this." The Slytherin said to Harry, although he didn't look angry at all.

"Burns, eh?" Harry said with a smirk. "Come on, I even gave you a kiss."

"I suppose that counted as a consolation prize." said Draco.

"You're just a sore loser, Malfoy." said Ron, giving Harry five.

"Hardly. Just joking here. You were all great out there." Draco admitted.

Ron was momentarily at a loss for words, it still felt weird that Malfoy could ever say such a thing.

"You did marvelously, Gin Gin!" Luna said, giving Ginny an Eskimo kiss and holding her hands.

"Thanks!" she responded with a giggle.

Ron, Hermione, Draco and Harry all looked at each other.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Zabini was so incredibly obnoxious, don't you think?" She said, shifting the attention to herself.

"Ugh, can't stand the bloke!" Ron complained.

"Don't tell me," Draco scoffed. "Thank God I'm changing rooms tonight - this is what I talked about with McGonagall."

"Oh, finally!" said Ginny, detaching herself from her girlfriend. "Was he still giving you shit?"

"Yeah, ugh! Not that I slept in my own dorm much, but I still needed to change my sleeping arrangements. I can't always sleep in the Gryffindor dorms." said Draco.

"I hope the new one is a beautiful snowflake who hates Nargles." Luna said , crossing her fingers. She still had her lion hat on.

"Yeah, that." Draco chuckled. "And that he's hot." he said, waiting for Harry's reaction.

"Uh-oh." said Ginny, visibly entertained.

The messy haired boy slapped his arm. "What did you just say? I'll end you."

Everyone laughed, even Draco.

"I'm joking, _sweetie_." said the Slytherin.

Here went his promise of avoiding usage of cute pet names. He had to admit, though, that these names were not so puke-inducing, once he was the one being in love.

"Careful, Draco," Ron warned. "Our Harry here is serious."

"I'm so annoyed that you won't get to sleep in my bed tonight." Harry pouted to Draco, who moved his hair out his face.

"Aw, come on, we can still see each other through fire communication." said Draco, smiling.

* * *

As already anticipated, that night Harry and Draco communicated via fire.

Harry was the one to put his head in it with some floo powder, so that Draco saw him in the fireplace of the Slytherin common room.

His new room mate had yet to come to Hogwarts, as he had traveled from far away.

It was probably someone from Beauxbatons or Durmstrang.

When midnight came, Draco debated using the floo powder to transport himself in the Gryffindor common room, since the new guy hadn't come yet.

He also wondered how this guy had been sorted into Slytherin already, even before setting foot in Hogwarts. There was probably a way to do it from a distance, he thought.

"Is he there yet?" a fire-faced Harry spoke.

Draco wasn't used to talking to someone that way, so he found it quite funny to see his boyfriend's face in a chimney.

He shook his head while chuckling softly.

In that moment, Draco heard a familiar noise, it was the passage to the common room opening, therefore someone was entering. "Must be him." Draco muttered, looking behind his back.

"I think you need to go. Night, Love you." He said to his boyfriend.

"Ok, night, babe, love you too! Tell me how it works out, ok?" Harry said, then he disappeared from the fire.

Draco got up from the black leather sofa he was sitting on and walked closer to the entrance to the Common Room.

He watched as a tall guy walked in awkwardly, he was holding a black trunk in one hand, while he had a small flask in the other. Its label said "magical maladies remedy", it looked like it came straight from Saint Mungo's.

He had dark, brown hair, set in place by a generous amount of gel.

He had a big, pointy nose, which reminded Draco of the late Severus Snape.

His eyes were blue, but he had olive skin, so he definitely didn't look British.

"Allo, can you tell me ze way to the last yearr dormitoires?" they boy asked in a seemingly french accent. Must have been from Beauxbatons.

"It's on your left... wait, I think you might be my new room mate." said Draco.

The french guy smiled widely. "Oh, Oui! I come here late, straight from an 'otel. I spent troi days there... "he explained.

"My name is Draco. Malfoy." Draco said, extending his hand for him to shake.

"Oh allo, Dracou, I'm Jean Jacques Germain. My old school is Beauxbatons." the boy said, rolling his Rs and shaking Draco's hand. "The same school as Fleur Delacour, so to speak."

"Yeah, spent Christmas with her." said Draco.

"Oh, fantastique! Every male studont in France was in love with 'er, but I wasn't. Yeah, I'm gay." Jean Jacques replied.

"Me too, but I think you already know." Draco said, referring to the Daily Prophet scandal.

He wasn't sure if he knew, but, given the Wizarding World being small, he wouldn't have been surprised had the news spread overseas.

"Ah, you're Arry Potter's boyfriend, aren't you? We read about the scandal, in France."

So, it was true. Draco nodded, thinking about how fast news traveled through the world.

"Must be 'ard, being the boyfriend of the Saviour of the World, eh?" Jean Jaques observed.

"Um..." was all that the blond boy could say. He had never really stopped to think about it.

"Is it true your father kicked you out?" the newbie asked.

The guy was starting to seem weird to Draco, how did he know that?

"Ah, yeah.. but I don't really mind." he said, lying.

"Do you think it's worth it?" the French asked.

What were those questions about? Was this guy some kind of a fanatic who knew too much?

Also, the way he was asking those questions made him sound like some sort of a therapist, coming straight from Saint Mungo's.

"Of course it is... " said Draco, fighting his urge to slap him.

 **A/N: Just like Adrastea Sivan, Jean Jacques Germain is an OC, and my inspiration for his looks came from Gaspard Uilliel.**


	13. Here Comes The Danger Up In This School

That night had been quite weird for Draco.

Upon arriving in their new room, Jean Jacques had fallen asleep just by touching the bed, still dressed.

He had covered his whole body with the duvet, even his head. Draco found it odd that someone could sleep like that, he wondered if he was even breathing.

Also, he had woken up at 5 am, making so much noise, much to Draco's annoyance.

* * *

"Ugh, I swear, I wanted to hex him, so that his mouth would disappear!" Draco complained.

He was on his way to Breakfast with Pansy, the morning after.

"He also said some not so nice things about Harry..." he continued.

"What did he say?" asked Pansy, looking curious.

"Well he asked me if it was worth it, losing my father over him. I mean, it sounded a bit out of place. Like, who even is he?" as he said so, he let out a sigh of frustration.

"Why, did he make you think about it?" the girl asked. Something in the way she asked seemed off, like she was eager to know the answer, but he chose not to mind it too much- Pansy was known to be a gossip.

"No, but, I don't understand why he should ask me this when he's just met me." said Draco.

"Must be jealous that you're dating someone 'famous'." Pansy suggested.

"Well, he needs to mind his business." said Draco, impatient, as they entered the Great Hall.

This was when their ways parted, Pansy made her way to the Slytherin table, while Draco went to the Gryffindor one.

"Hey, baby!" Harry greeted him happily.

"Hi." Draco said and, as he sat, he gave his boyfriend a kiss.

Then, the rest of the gang said hi to him as well, except Ginny and Luna, who were in their own little world, giggling and being cute.

"Slept well?" asked Hermione.

"How was the new guy?"asked Harry.

"A nightmare!" said Draco, pulling his head back, frustrated.

Then, he told them all about him, omitting the details about the weird questions, as he didn't want Harry to worry.

"Oh, wow and which one is he?" asked Harry, eying the Slytherin table.

"Oh, no, he's not here now - he's gone into the kitchen to inform the elves that he can only eat some foods, as he has a weird magical sickness. In fact, he's always carrying around a vial of medicine." Draco explained.

"Wow, a strange fella." Harry said, tittering.

Minutes later, Jean Jacques was walking towards the Gryffindors, flashing his brightest smile at the sight of his room mate. "Ah, Dracou! My room mate! Why aren't you at the Slytherenne table?"

"Well, because my boyfriend isn't there, simply." Draco said dryly.

"Well, he could come there, for once!" the French guy argued.

Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Did this guy have a problem with him?

He felt a sudden sense of strong dislike towards him.

"Why, hello!" he said, peeved.

"Oh, Bonjour! The Saviour." said Jean Jacques, bending down in what looked like a mocking bow.

"Yeah, that'd be me. And I don't go over to the Slytherin table because they all hate me. And now they hate my boyfriend, too." Harry snapped, feeling confident.

"Well, you could make an effort. Ah famous people, always acting superiorre." said the newbie, looking Harry straight in the eye.

"What do you know about our relationship?" said Harry furiously.

He couldn't believe how unpleasant this guy was. And he had just met him.

"I only speak from the facts." said Jean Jacques, sporting that confidence only someone full of themselves can pull off.

"You know nothing!"Harry said, in a rage. Now, this moron was crossing a line. He rose to his feet, ready to fight the douche.

"Don't, Harry, let it go, it isn't worth it." Draco said, then he grabbed him by his robe, motioning for him to sit back down.

"Well, time for me to go to my first lesson." said Jean Jacques, then he hurried out of the room.

Throughout the next days, the hatred for Jean Jacques spread among Harry's friends, as well.

For example, he would raise his hand faster than Hermione would, during classes.

Or, he would straight-up interrupt her as she spoke.

That infuriated her greatly, as she had always been the one doing that.

At least, it made her see just how annoying she had been during her previous years.

One time, he even flirted with Ron, enraging Hermione.

Obviously, Ron had been oblivious about it, but everyone else had noticed.

Who was this guy? And why did he thoroughly enjoy messing with them?

* * *

One afternoon, the six friends gathered under their favourite tree, in the Hogwarts courtyard, with the intent to study, but they ended up talking about the bloke.

"That garçon is worse than Draco was years ago!" Hermione grumbled. "Sorry, Draco, but you were an insufferable git."

She was sitting next to Ron with some books in her hands, they were both cross legged.

Luna was lying on her back with her legs bent, moving them slightly. Ginny sat on Ron's right, she had Luna's head on her lap and would caress her hair from time to time.

Draco and Harry were sitting opposite the straight couple.

Draco simply chuckled. "Don't worry, I know."

"I agree," said Harry. "He thinks he's better than me. Ridiculous."

"Why can't I be lucky with room mates? He's almost worse than Blaise and Goyle, combined." Draco wailed, as he put his head on Harry's shoulder.

"Oh, that would be the Nargles, Draco." said Luna, suddenly sitting up, hitting Ginny's face with her hair.

"Ugh can't we have a dorm just for the two of us?" said Harry, annoyed. "I'm starting to think this constant house division thing doesn't make much sense."

"Tell me about it! I wish I could always sleep in the Gryffindor room." said Luna.

Suddenly, everyone looked at her and Ginny. The redhead eyed her girlfriend nervously, then she nudged her softly.

"What? I just mean, because with you it's like I have friends." Luna said defensively.

"Girls..." Hermione began, happy that the Jean Jacques topic had been dropped.

"Is there something you need to tell us?" asked Ron.

"We noticed you two have been acting a bit... too friendly." said Harry, gesturing to the two girls.

There was a moment of silence. Then, the girlfriends looked at each other. Luna whispered something in Ginny's hair, all while the others waited impatiently.

This was it. They were going to come out to their friends and anxiety spiraled through their bodies. Ginny didn't know why she was scared, after all there was already a diverse couple in their group, but, for some reason, she was not completely calm.

After what felt like forever, she took a breath. "Well, it's true..." the girl said, holding Luna's hand. "We are together."

Hermione covered her mouth with her hands as she gasped. "Ah I knew it!" she said contentedly. Then, she walked towards them and proceeded to squeeze them both into a tight hug.

Ron looked like he had tears in his eyes. "Ginny," he said, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder, after Hermione had pulled away.

"I'm glad that you found the courage to tell us. Know that we won't ever judge you for being with a girl."

Ginny gave him a smile and held the hand on her shoulder in response.

"Well, when did that happen?" Harry asked.

"...Harry and I had been suspecting it for, like, two months." said Draco, smiling.

"New Year's Eve." Luna and Ginny said in unison.

"When?" Ron asked, confused. He didn't remember seeing them kiss or anything like that.

"Was it in your bedroom, Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded, then she blushed.

"It happened right before midnight," said the Ravenclaw. "And as the new year came, we kissed again. But I guess you were too busy enjoying the fireworks to see."

The three boys of the group all looked at each other, feeling like fools.

"And that wasn't even our first kiss." Ginny pointed out.

She went on to talk about their under-the-mistletoe kiss.

The six friends spent the rest of their afternoon laughing and chattering happily, excited about the new couple, momentarily forgetting about the insufferable Jean Jaques Germain.

* * *

Draco had to face him that night, though. He would spend it with him, but he would sleep in Harry's dorm for the weekend. Sleeping at the Gryffindors' every night would have been too risky. Draco's change of rooms had already been an exception.

When time to sleep came, he crept into his bed as fast as he could, trying to ignore the other boy in the room, who was already tucked in.

But, just when he was about to fall into a blissful sleep, he was interrupted by a much dreaded voice.

"Dracou? Are you awake?" Jean Jacques called to him in a whisper.

"No." he responded, turning around to face the wall.

How could he be so damn pestering? It was too late for him to be awake, anyway, since he had to wake up at 5 or so, as he had been doing those past days.

"Good."said Jean Jacques.

Silence.

Draco wondered why he'd asked him that question, but he didn't want to mind it too much, he was too tired to care. Maybe Jean Jaques' only purpose in life was to annoy people when he was too bored to sleep. Either way, it was too late at night for this shit.

Suddenly, he heard the drapes of his bed rip open. He lay still, eyes widened in terror. What the devil was going on? He didn't dare look behind his back.

He felt someone climb into bed with him. The next thing he knew, his roommate was lying behind him. Then, an unwanted hand felt him through his pajama pants.

Draco sat up swiftly, breaking free from the other boy's grasp. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, relax, Dracou." said Jean Jacques, putting his hands out in defense. "I just felt alone and wanted to cuddle wiz you." the French guy explained himself.

Draco was now extremely creeped out by him. He noticed that his room mate was wearing only boxers, nothing else.

"Just cuddle a teddy bear or something. I don't know if in France 'snuggling' consists in touching people's privates wearing only underpants," said Draco, moving further away from the other boy. "But here, it is downright creepy. And if you don't go back to your bed I will call the Headmistress."

"You English people are so uptight." said Jean Jacques, leaving Draco's bed. "Good night Dracou."

Draco enclosed his bed in a protection charm, just to be safe. He didn't buy the whole 'innocent cuddling' thing in the littlest bit. He was sure, at this point, that it had been an attempt at seducing him. Jean Jacques must have had a problem with Harry, or he was very attracted to Draco.

 _Note to self, never accept a drink from the bloke_. Draco thought.

Given the guy's behavior, he might go as far as to spike Draco's drink with a love potion.

Before drifting off to sleep, the Slytherin wondered how his new room mate had developed an obsession with him. Must have emerged from the Daily Prophet edition on the Harry-Draco scandal.


	14. Bedroom Warfare

"What, he touched you there and said that it was just cuddling? Half-naked?" Pansy asked Draco, the morning after, visibly entertained.

Ever since their reconciliation in December, Draco and Pansy found themselves closer than ever. They would often talk about their problems with the other, seemingly repairing their eight year old friendship.

They were both sitting in one of the leather sofas of the Slytherin common room, discussing Draco's misadventure of the night before.

"You're here smiling , but I'm still shaken! That's perfectly normal in France, so he says..." Draco replied.

At that, Pansy made a shocked face. "Oh Merlin!" the girl said, sitting closer to her friend. "How were you able to sleep?"

"I cast _Protego_ around my bed. " Draco explained.

"He's out of his mind!" Pansy stated. "You should tell McGonagall. Or Slughorn, at least."

"I'm considering this option."

"Wait... are you going to tell Potter?" Pansy asked, interested.

If Harry had found out about it, he would have challenged Jean Jacques to a duel - if not worse.

And Draco didn't really feel like getting his boyfriend into trouble, so his idea consisted in avoiding the subject.

"I don't think I am." he said. "Harry would murder him if he knew."

"Uh-oh, are you telling me that you're willing to lie to Potter so that he won't harm Jean Jacques?" said Pansy, gasping slightly.

"I couldn't care less about that tool. I don't want Harry to end up in trouble, is all."

That weekend Draco was meant to sleep in Harry's dorm. The last few nights with his perverted room mate had been surprisingly calm, but he hadn't dropped the Protection Charm surrounding his bed.

Additionally, he had not informed Harry about the 'cuddling' incident.

* * *

On Friday night, he was in the Gryffindor Common room, having a chat with his friends. Luna was the other odd one out.

They were sitting in three different arm chairs, one per couple, all located in front of the fire place. On the floor, next to the chairs, was a six pack of butterbeers, courtesy of Seamus.

"I'm so glad you're sleeping here tonight, it's been a long week!" Harry purred into Draco's ear.

"Tell me 'bout it!" said Draco, putting their heads together for a second.

"Wow, Draco, Harry consumed my ears with his wailing! 'I miss Draco this, I miss Draco that'" Ron said teasingly, sipping his drink.

Draco couldn't help grinning upon hearing that. "Aw, my sweet! I won't leave you alone in your bed, for the next two nights." he said, planting a kiss on Harry's cheek.

"Thanks, Malfoy!" said Ron "Shut him up, already!"

Harry blushed furiously.

"Pff, Mione, you should have seen Ron when you left for New Year's Eve, he wouldn't shut up about how much he missed you! 'Where is Mione Poo, I need my Mione Poo.'" Ginny said, mockingly, coming to Harry's rescue.

Now, it was Ron's turn to blush. He threw a cushion at his sister, who caught it with a sneer.

"Aw, that's so cute, actually!" said Hermione, resting her head on Ron's shoulder. "I'll never leave you lonely anymore."

"Having to share the bedroom with Jean Jaques is rather, um, horrendous." said Draco, grimacing. Jean Jaques was beginning to make him miss his old room mates. And that said a lot.

"Don't mention that moron." said Harry. "He didn't, by chance, happen to molest you, did he?" he asked his boyfriend.

Draco's pulse started to race, as he was about to lie to Harry. He hoped he wouldn't notice.

"No..." he gulped.

"Good. Because I would cut him."said Harry.

"No, there's no need, for now..." said Draco, chuckling nervously.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry, folding his arms. He had one eyebrow raised.

Draco wondered if he had learnt about his little 'experience' with Jean Jaques. He chose to carry on with his lie, though.

"Yes, don't worry."

"Mmm, if you say so." Harry muttered. He suddenly looked upset. It wasn't like Harry to be like this, not around his friends and boyfriend.

Draco suspected something was up.

"Let's go to sleep, shall we? It's, like, 2 am." the black haired boy said, not daring to look at the blond one.

"Yeah, sure, 'sleep'." Luna giggled. "Someone is eager to have sex." she said, in one of her famously uncomfortable truths.

"Ugh, Luna, don't make me think about it!" Ron said, grimacing. The last thing he wanted to think about was his best friend _having sex_.

"Ok, Goodnight, everyone!" said Ginny, awkwardly. Then, she got up and left, followed by her girlfriend.

"Night! Love you!" Hermione shouted at them.

"No, _we are_ going to sleep tonight." said Harry, sternly. Then, he made his way to his dorm, not telling Draco to come with him.

Hermione and Ron looked at Draco, perplexed.

"Night." Draco murmured, then he ran after his boyfriend.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Draco asked, as he came into the room. Harry was already in his bed, facing the wall.

Draco slithered into bed, too, feeling a bit tense.

"Just my reaction to your lying." said Harry, his tone cold.

Oh, no. Were Draco's lying abilities that terrible?

"Lies? What lies?" he asked, acting vaguely.

Harry turned around to face him. "Really? You've been caught and you continue with this lie? Wow, you've just won _boyfriend of the year_."said Harry, now visibly angry. "I heard Pansy talking about what happened the other night in your room." he explained.

"Oh," Draco said. Pansy was not trustworthy with these things, he should have known she would tell her blabbermouth friends. He mentally cursed himself for telling her. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get into trouble... I mean, I knew you'd want to fight him or something." He reasoned.

Harry's body was as far from Draco's as possible. The distance between them was starting to get under Draco's skin.

"Of course I would, but that doesn't mean you have to lie about it!" he said, angrily. "My boyfriend gets molested and keeps it a secret... how am I supposed to take this?"

"Well, he said that it's something innocent in France. Maybe he really didn't think of it maliciously." Draco observed.

"Now you're defending him? He wants to get in your pants, that bastard! I noticed since day one."

"I'm not defending him! It was just a supposition. But don't worry, I would never cheat on you. Hell, I even used Protego on my bed so that he wouldn't be able to replicate his action."said Draco. He was starting to lose his temper.

Harry sighed, seemingly dropping his anger to become worried. "I know, but you can't let your guard down. I think you need to change rooms, once again." he said.

"I doubt it'll be possible..." said Draco.

"Listen, come Monday, you go see the Headmistress and tell her what happened. Then, I will challenge him to a duel." Harry suggested.

"None of this would have happened if you had slept in my room, for a change." Draco snapped.

Oh, he had done it. He had finally told it like it was.

That went through Harry's body like a scalding arrow.

"What are you implying?" asked Harry, sitting up.

"That you refuse to sleep in my dorm! It's always me who has to break the law in order to see you at night!" Draco let out in a bitter tone.

"How long have you been holding this in ? You know damn well that I don't see eye to eye with the Slytherins!" his boyfriend said, in a rage, his jaw clenched

"It's not like you need to have a tea party with them! You just have to sleep in the same room as me and hang around my common room." Draco sat up as well.

"Well, it makes more sense for you to come here since everyone here is your friend, now." Harry pointed out.

Harry didn't have any friends in the Slytherin lot, while Draco had been accepted in a new 'clan'.

In his opinion, he should have considered himself lucky to be granted such privilege.

"I'm starting to think that, maybe, Jean Jacques is not so wrong, after all... he's right to say that you never make an effort." said Draco. He was now on the verge of tears.

He couldn't believe he had just said it.

"Oh, right, I never make efforts." Harry scoffed. "Because I didn't go out of my way to invite you to spend Christmas with a family who most definitely hated you, so that you wouldn't spend it here, alone!"

Great, now Harry was trying to guilt trip him into feeling ungrateful. Was he for real? He had been the one making the effort, not Harry, nor the Weasleys. He had been the one to suck it up and face people who disliked him, just to spend the Holidays with his boyfriend.

"Good on you, Potter." he spat. "What you're saying doesn't make any sense. Do you want me to kiss your feet because you invited me at the Weasleys for your own convenience? It's not like you offered to stay here with me. Because your little fake mummy would have taken offence. Cause who cares if sodding Malfoy gets offended, right?" He was now breathing heavily and crying out of frustration. "It's not like I am your _boyfriend_ , or anything."

Harry had been open mouthed for the whole time that Draco had spoken.

He didn't know what to say at this point, he was outraged. After what felt like forever, all while he heard his boyfriend cry, he spoke. "Go back to Jean Jaques, go! Go get fucked by him, since your boyfriend here won't even move a finger for you."

"You're ridiculous. " Draco hissed. "If I'd wanted to, I would have done it already, don't you think? But I pushed him away because I happen to be dating _you_."

"Look, I'm going to sleep, now. You do whatever you want. " Harry said, lying back down on the wall's side.

 _This is how things are, then_. Draco thought. The same person who had called him _the love of life_ had just told him to _get fucked_ by someone else. And for something so stupid. He wondered if their love was really as strong as he thought it to be.

Not replying to the boy next to him, he brought himself down on the mattress, facing the curtains. Tears were still streaming down his rosy cheeks.

Instead of being hit by the usual fiery passion that would reign supreme through their nights together, they were both overcome by a freezing dullness.

Neither of them slept much.

Ron and the rest of Harry's roommates, together with Hermione, had spent the night in the Common Room, too drunk to reach their beds.

Thus, they didn't hear their fight.

* * *

The next morning, Draco went to sit at the Slytherin table, shocking everyone.

"Um, Harry..." asked a very confused Hermione. She was hungover, so she looked a little ill-like."Did we miss anything?"

"Yeah, that's odd." said Ron, yawning.

"Did you have a fight?" Luna asked bluntly.

"Yeah." Harry said. He was moving his fork idly in his plate, not daring to eat. "That guy's just so stubborn sometimes."

"Come on, Harry. Your relationship is strong, I'm sure it would be fine if you just talked it through."said Hermione.

"I'm not talking to him, unless he apologises." Harry argued.

"If you won't tell us what happened, then we can't really help you." said Ginny.

"He said I'm not a good boyfriend because I don't dine with the Slytherins." he explained.

All of his friends looked at each other, then Hermione spoke. "Well, he's got a point. I mean, he's always hanging around us, isn't he? While you don't even try with his people."

Meanwhile Draco, at the Slytherin table, was not willing to touch food. He was looking down at his plate, sadly, unable to get the fight from the previous night out of his head.

A worried Pansy put her hand on his shoulder. "Draco? Are you ok?" she asked.

"Not really,"said Draco. "I suppose if you had kept your mouth shut, maybe, Harry wouldn't have overheard you babbling about the Jean Jacques thing."

"Oh, I'm sorry! But, you know I suck at keeping secrets." Pansy said, in her defence.

"It doesn't matter now." said Draco in a monotone voice.

"So sorry, man... but I need to go study. I'm so behind on Transfiguration..." Pansy said, then she left the room, hurriedly.

Not much later, someone unwelcome walked in.

"Oh, look who's at the _Slytherenne_ table! Dracou! What brings you here? Fight wiz Potter?" came Jean Jaques' voice.

Great, he was the last person that Draco wanted to have a conversation with, in that moment. Why did Pansy have to go? Having her there would have given him a shield, at least.

"Look, I'm not in the mood." he warned him.

"Sorreh to say zis, but I think he's not doing enough for you." the French guy said.

Draco looked up at him. He agreed with him , for once. "You have a point." he said.

"You don't know how bad I feel for you right now, Dracou." Jean Jacques said with a smirk.

He definitely did not feel bad, not in the least.

* * *

On Saturday night Draco didn't sleep in Harry's room.  
He knew he'd be sharing his dorm with Jean Jacques, but he really didn't feel like talking to him, not after what they had said to each other. And besides, Harry had to be the one to apologise.  
He was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, when his room mate moved his drapes open.  
He rolled his eyes, he had forgotten to protect himself. But he didn't really care in that moment.  
"Dracou, look, I wanted to apologise for ze other day. I just thought you'd be ok with zis.  
Down in Beauxbatons we do it all the time. It's not sexual harassment there." Jean Jacques said, sitting on Draco's bed, uninvited.  
"Well, I can't say that I didn't find your...action creepy. But I suppose, if it's a Beauxbatons tradition, that for you it was 100% innocent. But around here, it's not that ideal. And also, I have a boyfriend, so it's not so nice." Draco said. He didn't really mind the boy's presence on his bed, probably because in the last day he had not really spoken to anyone. Except for Pansy, on occasion. But she wasn't really present lately, she was... Elusive.  
He wondered if she had been hiding something.  
"But where is he now?" Jean Jacques pointed out. "Is his pride stronger zan his love for you?"

Draco sighed. He'd been hoping that his boyfriend would magically appear at his dorm -he had told him the password, after all- and whisk him away, begging him for forgiveness.

But that wasn't Harry Potter.

"I don't even know anymore." said Draco.  
"Tell you what, don't say sorry to him first. He's the one who has to come forward." His roommate said.  
"I never even expected him to do anything, you know? I didn't even want to be with him in the first place. I simply wanted a few nights of meaningless sex with him. But I don't know how, I fell for him. Must be the Chosen One charm, I reckon." The blond boy said as he put his head in his hands, sighing. He couldn't believe it, he was opening up to Jean Jacques.

Where was Pansy when he needed her?

"Remember that in relationships, both participants have to be on ze same level." Jean Jacques said, putting his hand on Draco's nodded, but he didn't say a word.

"So, does zis mean we can start over now? Be friends?" The French boy suggested.

"Sure, why not?"


	15. Play Me Till Your Fingers Bleed

As the days went by, the two lovers wouldn't speak to each other, at all.

Neither of them wanted to put an end to that row.

Draco had detached himself from all Gryffindors and Luna, so that he could become closer to Jean Jaques who, he noticed, was not so bad.

"You and Draco are still in a fight?" Asked Hermione, one day at lunch.  
In those past days, Harry had told them about their fight in detail.

So, now they knew about Jean Jacques' thing with Draco.

"It's almost been a week!" The girl continued.  
"Well he's in the wrong." Harry shrugged. "Besides, he doesn't look so sad, does he?" He turned around to glance at the Slytherin table, where Draco was laughing wholeheartedly at something that disgusting piece of muck had said.  
"Ugh, I really want to end that prick."  
"Harry, we've talked about this. No dueling, ok? You don't want to be expelled when there's only three months left of school!" Hermione admonished.  
Harry felt a strong sense of jealousy gnawing at his insides when he saw that Draco had just patted the French boy's shoulder playfully.  
"He wants to steal my man, can't you see? Hell with 'innocent dick cuddling' in fucking Beauxbatons, he was trying to seduce him. " Harry spat.  
"Harry's got a point." Said Ginny. "But if Draco's not bothered by his behaviour anymore... I'm guessing Jean Jaques is a decent guy."  
"Draco's only doing this to get back at me, because I didn't exactly treat him nicely." Said Harry, looking down at his plate.  
True, telling your boyfriend to get fucked by someone else isn't really considered romantic.  
"So, instead of talking to us about him into making our ears bleed," Luna began, "Why don't you just talk to him?"  
Harry sighed, looking up, trying to get the tears that were threatening to escape his his eyes to stay in place. "Oh, Luna. I miss him so much."  
"Then put your pride aside and talk to him! Tonight, at Hogsmeade, before that giga Nargle brainwashes him!" Luna exclaimed, stomping her fork in her chicken.

* * *

That afternoon, Hermione, Ron and Harry went to Hogsmeade, as Luna had suggested.

She and her girlfriend had gone on a date at Madam Puddifoot, as it was their month-and-a-half-a-versary, as Luna put it. Ron and Hermione had never had one, although they would have the monthsaversary. Apparently, girls were obsessed with these things.

Harry and Draco had not really had one of those, as they thought they were too mundane.

Harry and his two best friends went to the Three Broomsticks, as the Marauders Map had told them that was where Draco was located. Hermione and Ron came as Harry's moral support.

When Harry sat, his friends noticed that he was trembling.

"I'm just so anxious." he said, after Hermione had asked him about it.

"Don't be," Hermione reassured. "You have been through worse. I know you can do this."

She said, then she massaged Harry's shoulder.

To Harry, it was the same amount of nervousness that he had felt on his very first Quidditch match. Just without the thrill.

"I hope so," Harry sighed, "I feel like shit after how I treated him... He's right, for some things..."

"Oh, there he is!" said Ron, pointing at Draco, who was sitting on the other side of the bar.

He was sipping his butterbeer alongside Jean Jacques, who was drinking something the three friends had never seen before. They were laughing, as Jean Jaques seemed to be teaching French to the other boy, who looked like he was failing at the job.

Harry gulped at the sight of them together.

It was always a punch in the stomach, especially when they looked so happy in each other's company.

He took a breath. It was now or never, he had to man up and apologise to the person he loved. They'd had a terrible fight, but it wasn't so serious - not to break them up. This was only a matter of pride.

"Go!" Hermione said, pushing him out of his chair.

He turned around to look at her. "Mione, I will murder him. I can't stand him, he's touching all over my boyfriend!"

"Move!" Ron instructed. "Go get him!"

* * *

In the meantime, Ginny and Luna were celebrating their special occasion.

Luna was wearing the dress she had worn when they got together, it was black with blue abstract figures drawn all over. She had one of the blue gloves as a necklace - there were two holes and inside of it ran a silver chain.

"Exactly two and a half months ago," she said, grinning excitedly. "You finally saw the light and started dating me, forgetting about the Wrackspurts."

Ginny giggled. Her girlfriend was truly a special snowflake, she was so pure and perfect and, well, _hers_. She was sure, now, that she had found _the one_.

"I'm glad I did, I would have been with you much earlier had I not been so scared." The redhead said.

"Yeah, you would always ignore my signs." said Luna, rolling her eyes.

"Nah I just wouldn't acknowledge them." said Ginny.

"Yeah then you went to get confused with Harry, who is literally, the gayest wizard ever." Luna observed.

"We were really the worst couple." Ginny began, "A gay and a lesbian."

"Yeah I agree, you and I are better than anyone else, together." Luna smiled.

Ginny gave a soft laugh. Luna found that her laugh was her favourite sound in the world, it was so cute and always made her squeal.

"Happy fourth month-and-a-half-a-versary, Lu. Hoping this will the fourth of many." Ginny said, smiling fondly.

"Happy fourth month-and-a-half-a-versary, baby girl. Here," the Ravenclaw girl pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "This is us."

It was a moving drawing of the two girls, Luna was kissing Ginny on the cheek while hugging her.

They were both wearing the jumpers Molly had made them for Christmas, Luna had her hair tied in a messy bun, set into place with her wand.

The redhead in the drawing would blush every time the blonde kissed her cheek.

The real Ginny took it and looked at it. She couldn't stop smiling, so much so that her face cramped.

"It's so beautiful!" she said.

"Nothing is more beautiful than you." her girlfriend said, dancing a bit.

At this, Ginny blushed.

There she was, looking so bashful and adorable, blushing at her compliments.

Luna loved the effect she had on her girlfriend. Everything about her was beautiful, her hair, her freckles, her bright brown eyes, her lips... but she was also beautiful on the inside. She was fun to be around, she had a good heart and a bright mind... she loved her. She had never told her before, not in the 'girlfriend way'. Now, it was the right time to do so. Without further hesitation, she blurted it out.

"I love you, Ginevra Weasley."

Ginny looked at her girlfriend with heart-shaped eyes.

She had been waiting for her to tell her that for a very long time.

"I love you too, Luna Lovegood." Then, she cupped her face and kissed her softly, in front of the whole bar. She wasn't afraid and she didn't care about what people thought, she had been through too much to even worry about some looks.

* * *

If Ginny and Luna were having a blissful date, Draco and Harry's situation was quite the opposite.

Harry walked towards his boyfriend, ready to overcome his pride and apologise.

Draco didn't notice him at first. When he did, he froze. He looked into those marvelous emerald green eyes. He would get lost into them upon initial glance, they were his weakness.

He had forgotten how good it felt to see them staring back at him. He had missed them.

He felt so stupid for fighting with him. All he wanted to do was run in his arms and kiss him fiercely.

"Draco..." Harry muttered, while getting closer to him.

As soon as Jean Jacques saw the two boyfriends looking at each other that way, he took Draco's face in his hands and pulled him into a rough kiss.

Ron and Hermione's mouths dropped open. Hermione covered hers, while Ron let out a loud gasp.

Harry was too shocked to say anything. Or to do anything.

All of a sudden, his heart sank into his chest, breaking into a million pieces, as he witnessed something he never wished to see.

So, this is how things were.

While he was beating himself up for having said horrible things to Draco, while he wouldn't eat or sleep because of how terrible he felt, the boy who once told him he loved him was making out with a French hottie, not even a week after fighting with him.

Wow, and he thought their love could overcome every issue along the way.

Not finding a better option, he ran away. While he did so, his heart was beating so loud that he couldn't hear his thoughts, his head was throbbing violently. He was crying tears of anger.

Not much later, Draco was running after him.

He hadn't even put on his coat, he was outside in the freezing March air with only his shirt.

He looked like he was running for his life.

"Harry, wait!" he shouted, but the Gryffindor would not stop for him. "Harry, please!"

Harry finally stopped running, then he turned around.

"Wait WHAT? Am I fucking hallucinating or did you just snog freaking Germain? How long has this been going on?" Harry said furiously. He was livid with anger, while hot tears stained his face.

"There's nothing going on! He's the one who kissed me! I don't care about him!" Draco said. He was freezing, so his teeth rattled a bit.

"Yeah, that's what they all say, right?" Harry laughed in frustration. Then, he froze in horror at the realisation. "Job well done, Malfoy! You really outdid yourself on this one! You're incredibly disgusting!" He shouted.

Draco looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about? Harry, I swear to you, he kissed me, I didn't want him to! I love you, I didn't cheat on you, I would never!"

He seemed to beg him.

Oh, sure, now Malfoy had to play the victim.

How could Harry have been so stupid? Falling headfirst into a relationship with lying, scheming Draco Malfoy. He should have listened to Hermione.

"I can't believe I fell for this!" He yelled. "How could I ever think, for even one second, that you could ever love me? You must hate me so much, since you played me so well! All our relationship was nothing but a lie!" As he said this, Harry went back to running.

Draco was quick enough to grab his arm. "None of this was a lie! Harry, what you saw was sexual harassment, if anything-"

But Harry wouldn't let him finish. He pushed him away abruptly, using so much strength to nearly knock him to the ground.

"The curtain is down, now. Hope you're happy now. You have completely ruined me! Why didn't I just leave you to die in the Fyendfire?" Harry spat, then he disappeared from sight.

As Harry arrived in his dorm, he screamed in frustration.

He punched the wall so hard it made his fist bleed, but he didn't care.

He needed to break things, it would numb his brain momentarily. Then , his eyes caught a moving picture of him and Draco ice skating. He took the photo in his hand and threw it to the ground, shattering the glass.

The pain was unbearable. _That's what you get for trusting Draco bleeding Malfoy so quickly_ , Harry thought to himself as he lay in his bed.  
Now, he was sure that their whole relationship had been part of a sick plan, Malfoy style. How could he have been so blind? It was all clear to him now.

Malfoy had gotten him to fall in love with him to then shred his heart completely, later on. He wondered how someone could be so cruel. Hell, Jean Jaques was surely a set up. They knew each other before and they had collaborated on this damned plan to destroy him.

He felt sick to his stomach as he imagined Draco sitting down with Jean Jacques to discuss said plan.

He had been heartless. Maybe even his father had taken a part in this vicious plan, pretending to hate his son while he was planning his exquisite revenge.

He should have just left him in the fire. Now, he would be dead and Harry wouldn't be in this much pain over him.

But what killed him the most were the memories. Their first kiss, their first time... the way their bodies intertwined with lust, the way Draco's kiss was enough to make him weak in the knees... all the time they had been cute, their ice skating date, Christmas, kissing in the middle of a Quidditch match...

These thoughts were torture for him, he wanted to obliviate his mind, he wanted to remove this beautiful, raw, emotional relationship that had all been fake.


	16. Love Me To The Truth

**Chapter Warning: BoyxBoy, NSFW**

Draco was unable to move, or to process anything at the moment. He was standing in the middle of Hogsmeade, no coat on. He was cold, but he didn't mind it.

 _"Why didn't I just leave you to die in the fyendfire?"_

Those words echoed through his brain, freezing it still. He blinked once, then twice.

There had been a misunderstanding, freaking Jean Jacques had formed a friendship with him just to forcefully kiss him in front of Harry when he had the chance.

He had done all of this to create a strain in their relationship.

Now, Harry thought that he had been playing with his heart the whole time.

And this wasn't true, he had given up everything, his family, his status, just to be with him.

He felt like his walls were crumbling down, his head started to spin, he felt like he would faint.  
And Jean Jaques, he was going to pay. Not just yet, though. Revenge was a dish best served cold.

* * *

Throughout the next days, Draco tried to contact Harry in many ways, but he never succeeded.

He would try going in the Gryffindor common room, but the password had changed, so there was nothing he could do about it.

He tried fire communication, but he never found Harry by the fireplace, it was always someone else or it was empty.

Harry would never eat in the Great Hall. Draco was worried, as he was kept in the dark regarding the other boy's condition.

Speaking with Ron or Hermione was pointless. They would not reason with him, no matter how hard he tried. They were firmly convinced of the theory that their whole story together had been fake and part of a cruel plan to 'get back at the chosen one'.

Ron even got physical with him once in the hallway.

He grabbed him by his robe and pushed him to a wall. Before Draco knew it, the redhead had punched his face hard enough to make him fall.

He would have continued his beating if it hadn't been for Hermione, who intervened.

"No!" she shouted. "Stop it!"

"Why should I? This disgusting excuse of a human being has completely fooled my best friend! He hasn't changed, Hermione! He shouldn't have been trusted!" Ron growled.

"Ron, stop, I didn't fool anyone! I swear, Germain kissed me because he saw that Harry was looking!" Draco said, trying to push Ron away from him, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Why should I believe you, uh? You've done nothing but lie your way through things for eight years!" Ron spat.

"I know that, but those were dark times. I am a different person now-" Draco tried to say, but Hermione zipped his mouth shut with a hex.

"Let's go, Ron." She ordered. "I don't want to hear anything that this traitor has to say. "

Shooting Draco a death stare, she tugged on her boyfriend's shirt, motioning for him to come with her.

Then they walked off, leaving him sitting there, his mouth magically sewn shut and his eye black.

Ginny and Luna didn't seem to listen, either. They weren't violent with him, they just wouldn't acknowledge his existence.

Draco found out the hard way that it's hard to be believable, when you've always lied.

Meanwhile, Jean Jacques Germain, the person who had caused all of this shit, was nowhere to be found. It was like he had vanished in the air.

Teachers would say that, because of his 'magical maladies' he was in Saint Mungo's, but Draco knew that something was up.

It felt as if he had been sent from the heavens to cause a storm between Draco and Harry and then disappear, so that the repercussions would not affect him in the least.

He had to be a very apathetic person to create such a strain in a relationship and then leave to watch things unravel from a distance.

What if Jean Jacques had been a spy the whole time? Maybe sent in by Lucius to break them up.

The theory would have made sense, if weren't for the fact that Mr Germain was male. And Lucius hated homosexuals.

So, someone else was behind it.

It didn't really matter, though. Draco had lost everything.

This time, he was alone.

No one believed him, he was painted as a calculating person, when he was just trying to prove his innocence.

Life had given him a second chance. It had granted him with a mountain of love and affection, only to later have it crumble right before his eyes.

He had already lost many things, but at least, he had Harry and all of his friends.

What did he have now that was worth living for?

His only companion was Pansy. She had been the one to reverse the mouth zipping spell.

But she wasn't enough for it to be alright.

She would give him pitiful looks, saying how sorry she was for his breakup.

She would also go on about how he needed to move on, that good things came to an end, too.

Her friendly hand on his shoulder failed to make him feel better because he knew that, deep inside, Pansy wasn't really sorry for him. After all, she had been in love with him ever since he could remember. If anything, she would think this was the 'green light' to be with him.

Flashes of his good times with Harry infested his brain in a way so vicious that there was nothing in his power that would be able to numb his pain.

Not even sleep would, as his dreams were even more ruthless than his conscious thoughts.

When all hope seemed lost, an idea sprung at the back of his mind - veritaserum.

He had a chance to prove himself, now. It all lay in a special potion.

He was going to prove to Harry that he had been 100% genuine regarding their relationship.

* * *

One morning, he had Herbology with the Gryffindors.

Harry, obviously, did not attend the class, but Ron and Hermione did.

When the pair exited the greenhouse, Draco followed them.

"Guys, wait!" He called out, waving his arms, but they kept on walking, not daring to turn around.

"I didn't cheat on Harry and I will prove this to you!" He shouted, still to no avail.

"I will take the veritaserum. I will do it in front of you." he finally yelled.

That made Ron and Hermione stop in their tracks.

Ron turned around and looked a him with widened eyes, as he could scarcely believe what he'd just heard.

"Ron," said Hermione, giving her boyfriend a considering look. "He sounds pretty serious to me."

"Because I am." Draco replied. "I need you to follow me." He said, gulping.

Ron sighed. Indeed, the boy looked determined, there was no denying in that.

"Fine," the redhead expressed, "but this is your last chance."

* * *

Draco took the couple to Slughorn's office.

"This is where I can find some of the serum." He told the pair, then he meticulously looked through the shelves.

"Ah-ha!" the Slytherin exclaimed when he found what he was looking for. It was a small vial containing a clear liquid. Its lid read "Veritaserum".

"Drink up." Hermione instructed, as she sat him on a chair. She didn't have to tell him twice.

Draco downed it in one shot.

"Did you cheat on Harry?" asked a still enraged Ron.

"No." Draco replied.

"Was your whole relationship a plan to hurt him?" asked Hermione, bending down to face him.

"No. My love for him is real, among the realest things I have ever felt." Draco responded.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look.

"He's telling the truth." said Hermione. She rose back up. "We need to get to Harry, before he does anything stupid."

Ron nodded, then he helped Draco up.

"Sorry I punched you." he muttered to him. "It doesn't always show, but I'm a very protective friend towards Harry."

"It shows." Draco commented, giving the bottle of veritaserum to him. "As for the punch... don't worry. I would have done the same."

Ron nodded, then he added, "Harry must still be in our dorm. He's always so predictable when he's sad. Not that he left it much these days..."

The three of them hurried out of the office and rushed to the Gryffindor common room. It was on the tower, though, and they were in the dungeons. There was no time to lose.

Each minute counted, as Harry could have done something irreversible, given his state.

Although he was always under Ron or Hermione's watch, when they were in class, though, they couldn't exactly know what he was doing.

When the three arrived, they were all severely out of breath. "Here we are." Ron panted.

Hermione pronounced the password to the common room. The portrait moved to the left and they crawled their way in, one by one.

Once inside, they raced to Harry and Ron's dorm. Draco took a breath, then he opened the door.

He heard someone shifting in a bed, but no more sounds were heard. Harry was probably asleep. But, at least, he was alive.

"Harry?" Ron called.

"I'm not in the mood for it, go away!" said Harry in a broken voice.

As Ron, Hermione and Draco made their way into the room, the latter noticed a broken frame sitting on the bedside table and some drops of dry blood were on it. The glass shreds were still scattered all over the floor.

Draco's heart sunk in his chest when he saw that it was the frame containing their most adorable picture. He picked it up with trembling hands.

"I said, go away!" Harry tried to shout, but his voice came out choked.

He pulled his curtains open violently, expecting to see only Ron and Hermione.

He gasped at the sight of Draco. He was standing with the frame in his hands and he had a fading black eye. He suddenly felt a strong sense of worry inside of him. How had he hurt himself like that?

"What is he doing here? Take him away before I-" Harry tried to say.

"Harry, he didn't cheat on you! Look, he's on veritaserum!" Hermione interrupted him, pointing at the small bottle in Ron's hand.

"Draco..." Harry began, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"You can take this from here." Ron said to Draco, then both he and Hermione left the room, leaving the estranged lovers to deal with their own issues.

"I don't understand..." The Gryffindor said as the Slytherin sat on his bed next to him, after he put the picture back in its place.

"I took the potion to prove to you how true my feelings for you are." said Draco. "I need you to hear me out."

Harry hesitated, but then thought that, since he had taken the veritaserum, he wouldn't be able to lie, so he nodded.

"Harry, you hurt me," Draco began. "You told me all those things, then you completely ignored me for days, simply out of pride."

Harry sighed. He had to fight the urge to fling his arms around the other boy. He had just spent a good amount of time crying over him, but now, he looked so beautiful and pure...  
He felt so stupid for thinking that their relationship had just been a plot to hurt him.

"You're right, I was a piece of shit, but this doesn't mean you can go out and smooch that... that..."

"I told you, I have done nothing with him. He kissed me right in front of you just to break us apart, I'm sure. He's the one who had a plan, if anything. " said Draco, looking into Harry's eyes, risking to lose himself.

"What did I tell you, uh? That he touched you because he wanted to get in your pants! Because he wanted to take you away from me!" said Harry, crying freely.

"You were right, I'm sorry that I didn't see it right away. " said Draco, swallowing a lump in his throat.  
Seeing his boyfriend like that, thinking that he had caused it, was just too much for him.

"Maybe you deserve someone else, someone who will make efforts for you, someone who would do anything for you..."

"No, Harry, we can't just destroy all that we've built so far because of him. That's just what he wants. We are stronger than that, remember?" the grey eyed boy said, moving closer to Harry, holding his hand.  
"But you deserve someone who-" Harry began, but Draco cut him off.

"Enough! I don't want anyone else. I made friends with him because I missed you! And I should have been more honest with you, told you I needed more..."

"And I should have... listened to you instead of guilt tripping you!"

Harry said. He was starting to sob now.

"We were both wrong. But... know that I never thought that our love wasn't worth it, nor have I ever pretended to be in love with you for nefarious purposes." Draco let out in a broken voice.

"Draco..." The other boy said, unable to continue his speech, as he sobbed.

Draco was crying, too. But, unlike Harry, he was able to speak.

"It is worth it because every day I have something to live for. You're the reason I get up in the morning because I know that, with you, my life will have a meaning." He started. "I lost my family, my house mates... but it is worth it because I love you, more than anything. I never knew love or friendship before you and I won't let that French idiot ruin all of this!"

When he finished, his body shook because he was sobbing as well.

Harry was now certain that he had been honest and what he had told him was the most beautiful thing someone had ever said to him.

Now he had to hope that his boyfriend would believe his own truth, without the use of veritaserum.

When he regained himself from the sobs, he spoke.

"I didn't mean it when I said I should have left you in the fire."

Draco smiled through his tears, then he took his boyfriend's face in his hands. "I know."He breathed.

"Oh Draco, I love you so much!" Harry whispered.

Then, they plunged themselves into each other, diving into the most passionate kiss they had ever shared.

They both felt their bodies being pervaded by a roaring fire, as their mouths collided.

Draco lay down so that Harry was now on top of him, not breaking the kiss.

"I missed you so much." Harry breathed in between kisses, then he moved on to Draco's earlobe and nipped at it softly, earning a moan from the other boy.

Draco quickly removed Harry's shirt, then he gripped his back as the black haired boy sucked on his neck.

"I missed you, too." Draco moaned, throwing his head back.

Harry took off Draco's shirt and began kissing his way down on his body until he reached the hem of his pants. Shortly after, he removed them, with trembling hands, leaving him in nothing but his boxers.

He pulled them down with his teeth, all while making eye contact with Draco, who whispered a loud "Oh, Merlin!"

Their eyes were darkened with lust, their breaths quivering in anticipation.

Then, Harry took all of Draco's aching member into his mouth.

Draco cried out his name, as each second his member spent inside the hot cave of the other boy's mouth brought him closer to heaven.

He ran his hands through the messy hair, pulling softly as Harry bobbed his head.  
Not long after, he felt himself close to peaking, but he wasn't ready for it just yet.

"I want you, Harry, inside me." Draco whispered.

Harry lifted his head, after pulling away, then he pulled down his own pants and underwear.

"Accio lube." he panted. When the bottle flew straight in his hands, he opened the lid and poured the lubricant onto a finger and began to thrust it into Draco's entrance.

"Harry..." Draco whimpered at the intrusion. "More."

He obliged and he added another finger, stretching the muscle, thus getting it ready for more.

When he pulled the fingers out, he took a hold of his own erect member and, upon lubricating it, he lowly pushed it inside of Draco.

"Oh, shit, Draco." Harry growled. He had forgotten how tight he was.

Harry organized his initial thrusts into Draco's body in a slow pace, which he later accelerated on his boyfriend's desperate requests.

"Oh, fuck!" the blond boy cried out, wrapping his legs around Harry's waist to push him deeper inside of him. "Don't stop."

Harry was not going to stop.

In that moment, shocks of pleasure invaded both bodies, uniting them in a familiar frenzy of ecstasy.

Finally, the two lovers had found their way back to each other.

* * *

Half an hour later, Ron and Hermione were walking around the castle, headed for the library.

They were also talking about how disgusted they were by their own behaviour and Jean Jacques'.

"You know, Jean Jacques reminds me of someone, but I can't quite put my finger on who.." Hermione observed.  
Ever since she had met him, she thought he looked familiar.  
The doubt kept gnawing at her brain, until it struck her.  
"Oh, Ron!" She said, "I know who Jean Jacques is, quick, we need to go, now!"  
"What? Fill me in, babe!" Ron said, confused.  
"No time!" His girlfriend said, then she took his hand and rushed out of the hallway.

* * *

In Harry's bedroom, the now rekindled Harry and Draco, were in their post orgasm state, bodies and minds intertwined, while lying in bed, still naked.  
Harry was on top of Draco, his head rested on his chest, while the other boy softly caressed his head, playing with his unkempt hair.  
Harry was smiling uncontrollably, happy to have finally filled the void that Draco's absence had brought.  
He was sure of one thing: Jean Jacques Germain couldn't hurt them.  
"Babe." Draco said in a croaked voice, still stroking the other boy's hair.  
"Hmm?" Asked Harry, still entranced into his thoughts.  
"If we don't get up we will fall asleep, fucking up our sleep patterns." Draco observed.  
"I don't care, I just want to stay here, cuddling you." Harry said, all while raising his head to look at him. "I missed you too much."

"We spent two weeks apart." Draco giggled softly.  
"The worst two weeks of my life." Harry said, in all honesty.  
"Eh mine weren't so bad. I wasn't forced to constantly fix your tie." Said Draco teasingly, apparently off the veritaserum now.  
Harry scoffed, then he straddled him, pinning him down by the wrists.  
"You're an asshole. I'm perfectly able to tie it myself, thank you very much."  
"But it doesn't have my touch." Draco teased.  
Harry let go of his wrists and stopped to think.  
"Well, now that I think about it..." He lowered himself so that his mouth was on his boy's neck.  
"Everything is better with your touch." He breathed.  
"You are a charmer, Potter." He murmured. "And as much as I would love round 2, we have to get to Ron and Hermione, they must be worried." He said, tapping his shoulder as a way to tell him to get up.  
Reluctantly, Harry got up, with a groan.

* * *

Minutes later, the two of them were walking around Hogwarts grounds, hand in hand, determined to find their friends to tell them the news.  
But who they found was not Ron nor Hermione, it was their most dreaded enemy, Jean Jacques.

He had reappered after days of absence.

"You should not be holding hands!" He said, furious.  
Draco froze in horror as he heard his roommate drop his accent.  
"What the fuck do you want?" Harry shouted, angrily, taking his wand out, ready to fight him.  
"Want a duel, Potter? Make it a duel." Jean Jacques hissed. He, too, took his wand out and disarmed Harry.  
"Who the fuck are you? What have we ever done to you, uh?" The Gryffindor spat, pushing the other boy physically.  
"Oh, Potter, I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet... You have got some nerve, really! Having Draco all to yourself! When we both know that he should have ended up with _me!_ " Jean Jacques said, fury in his face.  
Draco gasped at the realisation.  
He knew who 'Jean Jacques' was, now.  
"Oh, Harry, I know who this is..."  
"I don't care, I'm still gonna kill him!" Harry shouted, in anger. He was ready to punch him when Draco stopped him.  
"No! That's..."  
As they spoke, Jean Jacques' features softened, his height shrunk and his hair grew longer.  
His body turned into a female one, revealing the true nature of this mysterious foreigner.  
There, in an extra large robe, stood...


	17. You Got Everybody Fooled

_**December 31st, 1998, London**_

Hermione and her mother, Laura Granger, walked into a hair salon.  
Hermione's bushy hair needed taming as they were supposed to attend this Dentist New Year's Gala, an event involving all the best dentists of the country and many important people would have participated.  
As Hermione and her mum sat on the chairs, the daughter noticed someone she knew sitting three seats from her.  
It was a girl who was sitting next to a guy she apparently found attractive, as she would smile at him and play with her hair from time to time.  
It was Pansy Parkinson, her old bully.  
She found it as a surprise to see her in the muggle world, as Slytherins never had muggleborns.  
She must have been halfblood.

She didn't know whether she should say hi, since they now had a mutual friend, but they didn't really see eye to eye.

When the Slytherin girl bent down to pick up something she'd apparently dropped, Hermione wondered if that had been her wand.

The guy she had been flirting with had dark brown hair and blue eyes and he didn't look British.  
He must have had French origins.  
 _French._

 _ **Present day, Hogwarts**_

"Pansy?" Harry said, in shock.  
Just as Draco had predicted. It was Pansy. His friend and confidant, Pansy.  
"Surprise, Potter." She said, covering herself with her over-sized robe.

"Harry, Draco!" said a puffing Hermione, she had just arrived there after an extenuating race up the moving stairs. Ron was there with her, too.

"Jean Jacques is Pansy! She just took the polyjuice potion!" said Ron. "Oh, they know already."

Draco couldn't believe it. He had trusted Pansy. He had forgiven her for ruining his life and she had not been honest about it. Her tear filled apology had just been for show. He should have known.

He'd seen that Harry had raised some eyebrows at his and Pansy's reconciliation.

Now, he knew why his boyfriend was so wary of her.

"Pansy, why?" he asked her, apathetic. "This is why you were never in the same place at the same time as Jean Jacques and why he suddenly disappeared! That's why you were so elusive... what a fool I was, thinking that you were having some sort of trouble! That's why he'd wake up at 5am! And why a flask would never leave his side. It was the polyjuice potion, not a sickness remedy. "

"Because I am in love with you, Draco! Can't you see? I have always loved you, given you everything, while that goody goody Potter screwed you once and got you under his spell!" Pansy shouted. "I thought I had to make you both pay. I figured, if I had transformed into a boy, I could have seduced you, thus separating you two. And I had made it!"

Harry had to fight the temptation to rip all of her hair off, piece by piece.

"Ron, do you still have the veritaserum? I guess little miss double face here has some explaining to do." he simply said, seeing something in the distance.

"You read my mind." said Ron. he took the vial of the truth potion out of his pockets and gave it to his best friend.

Then, the Weasley boy tackled Pansy so that she wouldn't be able to escape.

"Let me go!" She screamed, trying to wiggle away, but Ron's grasp was too vigorous.

Harry grabbed her by her neck, then he forcefully poured the content of the vial down her throat.

"Tell us your plan in detail." He hissed, stone cold.

Then, the Slytherin girl spat the truth out like it were bad medicine.

"The first thing I needed to do was to get back into Draco's grace.

Easy, I thought, since he had been brainwashed by fucking Potter. All I had to do was drop an act. I have always been a good actress, ever since I was a kid. I would get innocent people into trouble with my amazing acting techniques, just for fun or to save my own skin.

When I saw the disgustingly cute couple out and about in Hogsmeade, wearing each other's scarf, I thought it was just the right time. In a fervent jealousy, I approached you and I pulled my most regretful face - the crying bit was the easiest. I also made myself a tad bit goofy and cute - I knew Draco wouldn't have been able to resist me. So, after he forgave me, I had to come up with a plan to destroy the happy couple. My initial idea was to brew a love potion, but I couldn't get my hands on one, no matter how hard I tried. So, I moved on to plan B, brewing the polyjuice potion to become Potter. But, on New Year's Eve, in a muggle hair salon, a better opportunity presented itself.

This Foreign Exchange guy, who was sitting next to me, had struck up a conversation. As we spoke, I was hit by his looks. He was dashingly attractive, he was European... he could have looked French and from Beauxbatons, his looks were possibly a match for Draco's liking... so, acting like I had dropped something, I took some of his hair from the floor and brought it here. This is when I made the potion. I didn't know when to act or how to do that, since I had to trick the teachers into believing that this guy was transferring from another school.

So, I forged Madame Maxime's signature and sent an owl to the Headmistress, saying that, any minute, one of their students would be transferring to Hogwarts. The letter expressively said to put the new student into Slytherin, as, down in Beauxbatons, he was in the French version of that house.

The right time of his arrival was when Draco had to switch rooms.

However, I could not be in the same room as he was and I had to take the potion every hour.

Hence, I had to make it that this guy had a rare illness, so that he would always have the flask on his person.

The last thing I was missing was a name. I thought of the most French name there was and I chose Jean Jacques. It sounded perfect.

In the nights I spent with Draco, I had to sleep with my whole body covered by the duvet, as I would go back to my true form while asleep. Also, I would wake up so early because I had to rush into my actual dorm. It was the only way I had to see Draco in the morning and hear everything he had to say about the obnoxious new roommate.

And the rest is history.

I was determined not to be found out, but, apparently I let something slip - I was being too evasive with Draco.

However, when I saw them holding hands earlier, I knew my plot had failed.

I don't know how, but their love is too strong for me to break. "

When the girl finished speaking, Hermione told her own side of the Hair Salon story.

No one spoke for a while, it was too much to process, all at once.

Hermione was the one to break the silence. "Pansy, I hope you know that this is a criminal offence. You will be expelled for this, as a minimum. This is serious, Azkaban serious." She said, sternly.

"You have no evidence." Pansy angrily spat. "No one will believe you! It sounds absurd, even to me."

"This is where you're wrong." came Ginny's voice. She was walking towards the Slytherin girl, followed by Luna and Professor McGonagall.

They were what Harry had seen, hence his proposal of using the veritaserum, he knew he would have obtained a confession.

"We felt so bad that we had to interrupt the girls' date for their month-and-a-half-and-a-weeks-aversary, but we needed them to warn the Hadmistress."

"Miss Parkinson, I heard and saw everything. Your wrong doing, which marks second on your criminal record, is punishable with immediate expulsion, no possibility of a trial. You fooled everyone here; Mr Malfoy, Mr Potter and the whole school. Plus, you forged a signature and made up a person, that is identity theft. " The teacher said in a bitter tone.

"But, professor-" Pansy started, but she was cut off.

"No complaining. You are lucky that you're not going straight to Azkaban. Your wand will be broken in half, now." the Headmistress continued, summoning the girl's wand.

"May I?" Harry asked, eagerly. The Professor nodded and gave him the wand.

"This," he said, getting in the Slytherin girl's face. "Is for making out with my boyfriend."

He broke the wand in two, emitting a sound 'crack'.

Harry couldn't remember the last time he had been this satisfied. It felt so good, almost soothing.

Pansy screamed, "NO!"  
"Miss Parkinson, you have a day to gather all your things. Tomorrow, workers from the ministry will come pick you up."

* * *

The day after, Pansy had her trunk ready, she was in the Slytherin common room, waiting for her ride.  
"Draco..." She said as she saw him walking by her.

Draco didn't remember having been angrier than he was in that moment. This girl he had considered one of his best friends had done something unspeakable to him, yet she was there with her freaking pleading eyes. He had been a fool to trust her again after she had already stabbed his back once, he wasn't going to fall for her manipulative ways, not anymore.

The only thing he wished for was to never see her lying face again.

Had they crossed paths again, he would have probably destroyed her. And he didn't want to hurt a girl like that.

"How dare you betray my trust like this? After years of friendship! I used to think a lot of you, I even forgave your photo incident, but this... Is beyond me!" The boy said, furiously. "I can't believe you molested me twice and almost turned me against the boy I love."  
"But I told you, I did it cause I love-"  
"Fuck you, Pansy. Don't get too burned, down in Hell." He said, then he left the room.  
The girl stood there, her mouth dropped. Several people stared at her in disbelief.  
The news had gone viral throughout the school, even the Daily Prophet had gotten their hands on it.  
Pansy was now suffering at the hands of herself.  
Oh the cruel touch of Karma...

* * *

After leaving the Slytherin common room, Draco made his way to the top studying spot in all of Hogwarts, under the big tree.  
There sat his boyfriend and his friends.  
"Hey, baby!" Harry greeted him happily. " Did you send our best regards?"  
"Eh, I told her to go to hell." Draco shrugged.  
"When I learned that it was Pansy, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I worked on... Some plans with her, but, really, this one is beyond me." Said Ginny, still incredulous.  
"You were right not to trust her." Said Draco to his boyfriend, letting out a sigh.

He could add this experience to the list of things that Harry was right about.

"I never told you anything about that." Harry observed.  
"You so did in your sleep." Draco said while sitting down next to him.  
"Well, wow. Then I guess, once again, you should have listened to me." Harry admonished, slapping his shoulder lightly. "She almost broke us up."

"Well, I listened to some of the other things you said while asleep." the Slytherin purred into Harry's ear, then he winked.  
That was his way of getting out of a scolding. It had never failed so far.  
"Like what?" Harry asked, entertained.  
"I can't say them out loud..." Draco murmured.  
Ron gave them a disgusted look.  
"And we don't want to know, thank you." He said.  
"Why not? I do want to know!" Said Luna, genuinely curious.

After all, Harry's requests could have been as innocent as a 'fix my tie'.

"I don't have a roommate now, though." Said Draco, changing the subject.  
"About that..." Said Hermione, smirking.  
"...we talked to the headmistress and, since your situation is unlike any..." Ginny continued.

"You will have a dorm of your own..."Luna resumed.  
"... And you're free to sleep in my dorm, just like I am free to sleep in yours." Harry concluded, smiling brightly. "Whenever we please."  
Draco could hardly believe his ears. Harry had just said that he would sleep in his dorm, therefore he had to walk through the Slytherin common room.  
It couldn't have ended a better way.  
"Dear Merlin, this is great!" He exclaimed.  
"Yeah! So we can spend every night together!" Said Harry while holding his hand. "And you won't risk getting awful room mates again."  
"You are a bit horrible..." Draco joked.  
Harry scoffed, pretending to be upset at his comment.  
"I'll send you back to Blaise." He teased.  
"At least he doesn't talk in his sleep or moves uncontrollably. Next time, I will kick you." Said Draco, suppressing a sneer.  
Harry gasped. Then he started tickling him.  
Draco laughed and wriggled around, all while the others giggled or, in Luna's case, looked at them lovingly.  
 _" Thanks, Harry, you're the best boyfriend ever_!" Harry said in a mocking tone, still tickling him.  
"Ugh you just want me to say it, don't you?" Draco said in between laughs.  
"Say it and this torture will stop!" Said Harry, a smirk on his face.  
"Never! Ah!" Draco screamed while laughing. He then fell on the grass.  
"I need back up here!" Said Harry, calling to his friends, who happily obliged and went on to participate in the tickling frenzy.  
"Ok, Ok, I will!" Draco said, breathing heavily and with some tears in his eyes from the excessive amount of laughter.  
Everyone stopped, waiting for him to say it.  
"Thank you guys, you're quite decent friends I reckon!" He said.  
All of his friends plus boyfriend looked at each other.  
"I'd say this is not enough." Said Ron, looking disappointed.  
Harry nodded, then they all went back to their tickle filled torture.  
Draco's laughs echoed through the courtyard as he thought that these people were truly wonderful to him. He would have never been able to thank them enough.  
No one had ever made him laugh so hard, so much to gasp for air and cry his eyes out.  
He was very lucky to have them.

 **A/N: Mrs Granger's name is not specified in the books, so I had to get creative.**


	18. Muggle Ways

A fortnight later, it was time to leave Hogwarts for Easter Break.

This year, Harry was going to celebrate it in an unusual way- first thing being with his boyfriend, secondly, he was going to spend it in Hermione's house.

Hermione's parents, Laura and Donald, had invited all her friends over, mostly as a Thank You to the Weasleys for having given their daughter a place to stay on so many occasions.

Most of them had agreed to it, but Ginny and Luna had already made arrangements to spend it in Luna's house. Xenophilius had invited Ginny as he saw her as 'his daughter's most personal friend'.

It would be a great opportunity for the girls to come out as a couple to him.

* * *

The day the students had to take the Hogwarts express to King's Cross, Hermione wanted to make sure that everything was into place, before having her boyfriend and her friends step foot into her house.

"So, do you remember what I told you?" she asked them all.

They were walking in the hallway, making their way towards the Thestrals that would have taken them to the station. They had all used _Locomotion Charm_ on their trunks, so they were flying behind them.

"That your grandma doesn't know that you're a witch, therefore we have to prevent strange things from happening." said Ron, reciting it like a line for theatrical purposes. He rolled his eyes after he finished.

"Thank you, baby." She said, as she climbed on the carriage. "I trust Harry on this, but Draco..." she gave her friend a look. Draco had never had anything to do with muggles, so he was a real beginner. She was worried that he would do something that would give them away.

"No worries," said Draco, as he sat opposite her, next to Harry. "Your friend here has taught me a few important guidelines to follow."

"Hoping you payed attention." said Harry.

"There will be no problems." He said to Hermione, ignoring his boyfriend.

"Oh, alright... I'm just stressed. Ron has never met my parents." said Hermione, sighing.

"Oh, I am more scared than you are." said Ron, shivering a little.

In the last days, when Harry and Draco slept in the same dormitory as Ron, he had been pestering them with his anxiety. 'What if they don't like me? What if they kick me out after two minutes?' was only a glimpse of his constant rambles of fear.

"Remember, we don't have much time. We also have to find that spare second to say goodbye to the girls." Hermione reminded them.

"Don't worry, we have hours to spend on the train." Draco informed.

"Yeah, but we have many things to do... You need to change into muggle clothes before my Gran can see us... she's coming to collect us in London. Did you pack everything in? Harry, did you put Viridis in the owlery? Did you all get Toothbrushes? My parents are dentists, they care about dental hygiene..." the only girl in the group babbled.

"Yes, mum!" The three boys said in unison, as they descended from the carriage.

"She's the apotheosis of anxiety." Draco whispered to his boyfriend.

"Believe me, this is nothing." Harry answered.

* * *

As they got off the train in nine and three-quarters, Hermione had already put her arms around Ginny and Luna to say goodbye to them. The latter still had one foot on the locomotive.

"Bye girls! Have fun!" the brunette said.

"You too!" said Ginny, trying to adjust herself in the embrace.

When the oldest of the three girls pulled away, everyone else pulled them into a group hug.

"Behave." Ginny said to her brother, while grinning. "Don't traumatize those muggles."

Not much later, after Ginny and Luna had been picked up by Xenophilius, Hermione saw her grandmother in the distance. "There she is!" she exclaimed, then she waved at her.

As soon as she saw her granddaughter, the old lady trotted to her happily. "Ah, my dear! You've gotten so beautiful." she said, wrapping her into a tight hug.

Hermione's Grandmother looked a lot like her, she had the same kind of bushy hair, just that hers was white. She was a frail woman, possibly in her eighties, her voice was slightly dreamy, kind of like Luna's.

"These are Draco and Harry." The girl said as she pulled away from her Grandma's grasp.

"Oh nice to meet you! Such good looking lads! My name is Rosemary Granger." Rosemary said. Her eyes lit up as she saw those two boys. By the looks of it, she found younger men attractive.

"Oh, Thank you." Draco said as he shook her hand.

"Pleasure." said Harry.

"...and this is Ronald, my boyfriend." Hermione said nervously.

Rosemary looked quite disappointed upon seeing that her boyfriend was not Harry, nor Draco.  
Ron extended his hand for her to shake, but she simply stared at it in utter disgust.

* * *

After a bumpy ride in Rosemary Granger's old Panda Young- a ride that Draco and Ron found rather scary - they all arrived at the Granger household.

Draco was curious to see what a muggle house looked like as he had never seen one.

Harry had told him so many things about this special device called a 'television' - apparently, muggles used it as a pastime. It was like a box, Harry had described, and it displayed luminous moving images of people or animals, usually. It sounded a lot like something the Wizards could have used, he found it odd how muggles had more advanced technology than them.

"Laura, Don! We're here!" Rosemary said, banging on the door.  
She was surely a fierce woman.  
Not long after, the door swung open, revealing a smiling couple. Hermione's parents looked very clean and nice, their teeth were unbelievably white.

Rosemary hurried inside, complaining of a back ache.  
They both embraced their daughter so warmly that Draco couldn't help feeling envious.  
This was his second holiday of the year that he would spend without his own family and seeing his friends being happy and cute and cuddly with their parents was becoming more and more unbearable.  
Not even Harry knew, but he was still in a great deal of pain when it came to his family situation.  
During these past four months, he would hold his breath every time he saw an owl approach, hoping that it was some sort of apology letter from his parents, begging him to come back home, telling him that he was accepted.  
But that wasn't the case. His parents had completely deleted him from their lives because he hadn't grown up according to plan.

"We heard so much about you!" Both parents said as they all came inside, and it didn't take them long before they hugged Ron, too.  
Ron seemed to relax, he had been so anxious about meeting them and now he looked pretty content.

Naturally, seeing Laura and Donald as they met their daughter's boyfriend, all laughs and smiles, was a tough blow on Draco.  
He would have never been able to get Lucius and Narcissa to greet Harry this way. He felt it was so unfair.  
"And these are my friends, Harry and Draco." Hermione said, grinning and putting her arms around their shoulders.  
"Ah, right, the gay couple!" Said Laura, not dropping her smile. "It's so good to meet you both. Hermione spoke very highly of you."  
Draco was surprised at their open-mindedness, they were so fine with them being together.

They were his idyllic idea of parents, he was sure of it.

Later, Donald showed them where they would sleep.  
They let Hermione and Ron sleep in Hermione's room, on the condition that they had to leave the door open.  
Harry and Draco were treated the same, receiving the guest room.  
On that night they were supposed to go out to eat a very special muggle food called Pizza.  
Both Harry and Hermione had talked about it dreamily, so Ron and Draco were having high hopes on the dish.  
Draco had to put up a fake smile, as he watched his boyfriend prepare himself for their double date. "Ok, shoot. What's wrong?" Asked Harry, all while putting on cologne.  
His boyfriend was sitting on the bed, not dropping his fake smile.  
"Nothing." Draco lied.  
He had grown accustomed to lying to him, lately.  
"Don't lie to me." Harry warned, raising a finger.  
"It's nothing, I told you. I don't feel like spoiling our first night in the muggle world. "  
Oh dear, Draco Malfoy was looking forward to a night out in a muggle city.  
His father would have suffered a heart attack had he known that.  
"You never spoil anything. We are not going until you tell me what's bothering you." Harry said with crossed arms. He proceeded to sit next to him and give him a look.  
"It's just..." Draco took a breath.  
"It's about your parents, isn't it?" Said Harry.  
Once again, it was so hard to hide things from him.  
"Yeah... This is yet another Holiday in which they completely ignored me." Draco let out.  
"Honestly, why should you care now? You've been fine all these months, now all of a sudden you get sad. Screw them Draco, you're here with me, with your friends, why should you give them so much thought?" Harry asked.  
"It's not just now. I never really got over my parents' rejection, babe." Draco sighed. "I've been hurting about it, mostly when I was alone."  
"Why didn't you ever tell me about it? There should be no secrets between us." Said Harry, slightly upset.  
What he said was true, the last time they had kept things from each other, they ended up not speaking for a week.  
"I didn't want to ruin our happy moments." Draco explained.  
Harry sighed, then he put a hand on Draco's thigh. "A relationship is not just happy moments, Draco. It's getting through things together."  
"I'm sorry." Said Draco, meeting his gaze. "I just wish they weren't so obsessed with traditions and purebloods, you know? Why can't we have a civil relationship? No, we can only hate each other."

"The way I see it, they're not worth beating yourself up over. Honestly, your parents are... despicable. And I mean no offence." said Harry. "I mean... throwing you out of their lives because you like men? Not even a Christmas card. Sadly as it sounds, you need to try and learn to let them go." he looked down with sad eyes.

Harry knew what it felt like to lose someone he loved, having lost a bunch in the previous year alone.

To be fine, Draco had to treat them as if they were dead. It would take a while as it would be a grieving process, but, in the end, he would have gotten over it.

"I'm starting to think you're right about that..." Draco sighed.

 _When wasn't he right?_ Draco wondered.

"Well, now, we really need to get going." Harry said, as he sat up. "You coming?" He extended his hand for Draco to hold.

The Slytherin took it, giving him half a smile.

He chose not to waste his good times with his boyfriend and friends crying about his estranged parents.

He wasn't going to think about them, not for the whole duration of the Easter Break.

* * *

Ron and Draco learned that muggle restaurants had a paper menu instead of the drawn-in-the-air-one. They also had many waiters. No one would have their trays fly above their hards, they only carried them by hand.

Also, dirty dishes wouldn't just fly back to the kitchen.

The pizza place they were in belonged to a family friend of the Grangers, so he sat them in his best table and promised to reduce the final price.

At first glance, this famous Italian delicacy looked like a vinyl record, as it was flat and round.

For some reasons they had girl's names, like 'Margherita'.

Muggles were weird.

When the food arrived, Hermione and Harry smirked at each other, eager to see the reaction their boyfriends would have had upon tasting pizza for the first time.

"So, you grab a slice of pizza, like so..." Hermione instructed as she held a piece in her hand.

"And then you bite." Harry continued, biting his slice ferociously.

Oh, God. He had not eaten a pizza in ages. He would only eat it on rare occasions, as the Dursleys weren't really fond of him eating food that he liked. He had missed it.

Ron didn't look too convinced, he had never really loved things with tomato sauce.

However, the moment his taste buds felt the pizza, he realised that he had judged too soon, given his delighted expression.

Draco was reminded of the first time he'd tried burgers. This dish, too, had to be eaten with your hands. He reluctantly grabbed a slice, having some of the toppings fall from it, then he took a bite.

Suddenly, an explosion of flavour invaded his mouth. His eyes fluttered back as he took in the delicious taste of this simple muggle food.

How had he lived his entire life without trying it? There was nothing that tasted better, he was sure of it.

It was even better than the burger he had eaten on his first date with Harry.

This was living.

"You like it baby?" Harry asked, chortling.

Draco simply nodded.

Hermione laughed her heart out as her boyfriend was making a mess, getting the sauce all over his chin and hands.

Then, she cleaned him up with a napkin, still laughing.

She was very happy that her favourite people in the world were discovering her way of living - and liked it greatly.

* * *

After this marvelous gastronomical experience, Hermione dragged her friends to a pub.

It didn't look like one of the Hogsmeade bars, it was bigger, warmer and it smelled like alcohol.

Also, their choice of drinks sounded funny, too.

For one, they had Whiskeys without the fire bit and beers without the butter part.

When Ron tried the Whiskey, he grimaced. It burned his throat and it tasted too strong - stronger then the Wizard version.

Just as everyone was laughing at the face Ron was making, something strange happened.

An owl entered the place, flying through an open window.

The bird was holding a letter firmly into his beak, its envelope was red. There was no doubt as to what it was: a howler.

The barman and the customers all screamed and tried to chase it out of the room, but it wouldn't do it before delivering mail to the rightful recipient.

Draco recognised the owl upon seeing him. It was the Malfoy owl.

He held his breath as it flew towards him.

With shaking hands, he took the letter out of the animal's beak.

As he did, the bird flew away, without even greeting him.

As absurd as it sounded, it felt like it was mad at Draco, too.

"Is that... from your father?" Harry asked, aghast.

 **A/N: Mr Granger's name, too, is made up. His mother is yet another OC.**


	19. Nargle Eggs

The writing on the howler read 'Draco Malfoy, Muggle City' and, although there was no sender's name, it was obvious that it was from Lucius.

"Yes, this is from him, i'm sure. That was our owl." Draco explained.

His father knew that he was in a Muggle place at the moment. The howler would have been ruthless. Draco felt panic overrun him.

"I think it's best if we open it at home." Hermione suggested.

After paying for their drinks, the four of them rushed to the Grangers' house, fearing that the howler would burst.

Once in Hermione's room, the girl cast muffliato so that the noise from the screaming letter wouldn't bother the other inhabitants of the house.

They sat on her bed, all gathered around Draco.

The Slytherin was as nervous as can be. This was the first contact with his parents in four months. Sure, it would not be positive, but, at least, they remembered that they had a son.

As he breathed shakily, his lover squeezed his hand tightly, trying to calm him down, telling him that he was there, next to him.

With no further hesitation, Draco tore the envelope open.

" _Draco_ _Malfoy_ , _your mother and I are_ _thoroughly disappointed in you_.

 _We learnt that you will be spending Easter in a house of mudbloods_ , _in a muggle city."_

Mr Malfoy's amplified scream was so loud that all four of them jumped back, startled.

Draco's face whitened and all he could hear was the sound of his racing heartbeat, which was louder than his father's voice.

 _"How dare you dishonor us this way? Apparently, being an abomination wasn't enough for you."_

Harry couldn't help feeling bad for his boyfriend, who looked like he would faint at any minute.

He felt blinding rage come over him at the sound of those appalling words.

Lucius had no chill, really. He had left his son for dead, what was the point of sending him such a humiliating letter after months?

 _"This is not the real you, our son we knew and loved would have never accepted such invitation._

 _You are being brainwashed by Potter's lot_ , _we demand that you drop this act and sort out your priorities, if you care about your family._

 _Otherwise, you will suffer the consequences of your betrayal._

 _-Your Father, Lucius Malfoy."_

After the last sentence, the howler self destructed, leaving its shreds on Hermione's bed.

No one spoke for a while. Draco seemed to be unable to produce a sound.

It was all too much for him. If he had to make peace with the loss of his parents, receiving a threatening letter didn't help. What were they trying to obtain?

The silence was eventually broken by Harry's voice."What the fuck do they want?"

He was irate.

"I don't know..." Draco murmured. His voice came out broken. He suddenly felt nauseous, his head was spinning as though he had been running around non-stop.

"He's... he's the one who brainwashed you." Harry said in a dry tone.

His boyfriend gripped his shoulder for balance as he felt like he was going to fall from the bed, headfirst onto the floor.

Harry wrapped his arms around him and held him close to his chest, rocking him back and forth as he broke into a sob.

This brought him back to Draco and his father's confrontation, which had taken place the day after their scandal.

Just like he had done that time, the Gryffindor tried to whisper calming words into the Slytherin's hair, as he cried so hard that his whole body shook.

"I'm here, see? It will all be alright." Harry lulled.

The sight was heartbreaking for Ron and Hermione. They watched as their new friend broke down in his boyfriend's arms because of his parents.

Hermione couldn't help feeling guilty for shoving her perfect family life in Draco's face.

Not long after, Draco relaxed into his boyfriend's embrace.

He pulled away, slowly, then, upon fully recollecting himself, he spoke.

"I did care about them. That's why I did all the things I did... to please them. But if he thinks I'm willing to go back to being daddy's servant, he's wrong." He said. His tears had dried on his face, but his eyes were still puffy and red.

"Draco..."Ron said, giving him a pitiful look. "If I may... It's simply not worth it... I know this sounds harsh but they will never accept you, not if they don't open their minds."  
"Their acceptance sounds like a dream to me, at this point." Draco sighed.  
"Honestly, ignore them, Draco..." Hermione intervened. "Enjoy easter with us! Try not to give them too much importance, ok? Life is too short to always be this sad. "  
Draco's lips curled into a smile.  
Hermione could have been a life coach if she'd wanted to.  
The four friends ended up spending the night laughing, playing muggle cards and watching the highly anticipated TV.

Ron and Draco found themselves staring at the screen in awe.

They went to bed at around 5 am.

* * *

The next day they woke up late. It felt like a repetition of Christmas.  
Hermione was the first one to come downstairs.

Her hair was messier than usual and she had circles around her eyes. She was still in her pajamas.

Laura was laying the table for Easter feast in the dining room.

The large wooden table was dressed in a pink cloth, the 'Easter cloth', as the Grangers called it.

She'd used a glass vase of flowers as a centerpiece, they were a bunch of pink roses.

Six plates were set, they were also pink, with golden borders.

When her mum saw Hermione, she was setting a plate of decorated hard boiled eggs next to the roses.

"Oh, morning, sweetie." Laura greeted her daughter with a smile. "You're just in time for lunch. Gather your friends here, will you?"

"Oh, Ron is coming in a bit, I don't know if the others are still asleep." Hermione replied, slightly massaging her tired face. "I'll go check."

"Your choice of boys is.. peculiar, to say the least." Her mother expressed. Her lips were pursed, suggesting a minor disapproval regarding Ron.

Hermione didn't know how to respond to that. She knew that look well. It was her 'I know you can do better' look that she'd give her when she didn't agree with her actions.

"Well, that's the reason I love him." she finally said.

"Oh, I see... he's just a bit...goofy, I don't want to say a bad word." Mrs Granger said as she folded the cream colored napkins. "Are you sure he can provide everything you need?"

Hermione's mouth opened to speak, but she was interrupted by the sound of her boyfriend's voice, coming from the bathroom.

"Mione, Is this device next to the toilet used for washing your feet? Because it looks... weird."

"No, Ron, don't touch that!" Hermione shouted back, fearing that Ron was talking about the toilet brush. She rushed upstairs to stop her boyfriend from doing regrettable things. While on the stairs, she met Harry and Draco, who were already dressed.

"Morning, Mione." said Harry. "I think Ron's trying to clean his feet with the toilet brush." He said, chuckling softly.

"I'm on my way to save him." Said Hermione, then she disappeared out of sight.

"Good Morning, boys." said Laura, a bright smile painted on her lips.

She was holding a pot of roast lamb.

"Morning, Mrs Granger." the couple said in unison.

"Do you mind helping me finish with the table?" The woman asked, panting slightly. "It's really a toll."

"Oh, sure." said Draco, stretching his arms to take the container from her hands.

"I have to apologise for my Mother-in-Law, She has a bit of senile dementia... i hope you're not too uncomfortable at hiding your magical aspects." said Laura, giving Harry the cutlery to put on the table.

"Oh don't worry, I'm used to this, I lived with muggles for ten years." said Harry with a polite smile, as he put down a fork.

"Here we are!" said a puffing Hermione. She had changed her clothes and she was holding Ron's hand. "Happy Easter, everyone!"

"Happy Easter!" Ron repeated.

"Donald! Rosemary! Come on downstairs! Food's ready!" Hermione's mum called out, ignoring the wishes.

Ron turned to his girlfriend, feeling uneasy. "She didn't say it back..." he whispered.

"Here I am, ready for this binge!" the elderly lady said, as she jumped on her chair.

Donald Granger looked a little embarrassed at his mother's behaviour. "Mum, sit properly, we have guests." He warned.

His mother simply shrugged.

The four friends all looked at each other, trying to suppress a laugh.

Hermione's Grandma was the life of the party.

* * *

In the meantime, Ginny and Luna were at the Lovegoods, ready to engage in Easter fun.

"So, Ginny, I don't know if you do this too in your home, but Luna and I have a special tradition for this day! It's hunting nargle eggs!" Xenophilius said excitedly.

The three of them were all outside. Luna was holding her girlfriend's hand and she was jumping feverishly.

"Oh, no, we don't do that." the redhead replied.

So, nargles actually existed and the Lovegoods bred them?

"Nargles like to come and lay their eggs in our backyard," Luna explained, as she had seen her girlfriend's puzzled expression. "So we hunt them for Easter! It's so fun, you'll see! The winner is proclaimed Easter queen or king and they are fed by someone else throughout the Easter lunch."

Ginny couldn't help smiling at her girlfriend's cuteness.

Luna's little quirks never failed to warm her heart.

"Wow, that sounds awesome."said Ginny, playing along.

She was curious to see what these 'nargle eggs' actually were.

"So, I'll explain the rules." Luna's dad said, clearing his throat.

"The eggs are spread among the garden. Who finds the most in ten minutes, comes out on top. To catch them, it's necessary to learn this dance. I'm going to need Luna for our demonstration."

He said, extending his hand to his daughter, who happily obliged .

Ginny watched as the other two people in the house engaged in a crazy dance, much similar to their secret handshake.

Xenophilius spun Luna around, holding her from her back as she lifted her legs.

Then, they both started singing a tune that lacked rhyme. It went like this, "Nargle eggs, nargle eggs! Come to us! So we can fry you!"

Ginny laughed heartily, clapping her hands. She had not laughed like that in a very long time.

"Come on, baby, join us!" Luna shouted.

Ginny threw herself in the middle of the dance and grabbed Luna's hands.

She started singing, too, but she was unable stay in tune as her laughing prevented it.

"Oh I think I see one!" Ginny exclaimed, then she detached herself from the other girl to run towards an object that looked like an egg.

As she kneeled down to examine it, the mystery around it was revealed: it was nothing but a chicken egg.

There must have been a wild hen roaming around the garden, who had possibly escaped from a farm.

She shook her head at the Lovegoods' naivety.

"I found one!" She shouted as she took it in her hands and lifted it in the air for them to see.

"Good girl!" said Luna, clapping her hands. "One point goes to Ginny!"

As the game continued, Ginny found that she and Luna were both competing for first prize.

There was a fight over one of the eggs, as both girls ran towards it at the same time.

Ginny was the first one to grab it, but Luna wouldn't give up on it.

She took a hold of it, trying to snatch it from her hands, but her girlfriend wouldn't let her.

"Get gone, Luna! This is mine!" Ginny said, all while laughing.

"I can't see your name on it." Luna reasoned in her dreamy voice.

"But I'm its rightful owner, as I touched it first." Ginny smirked as the blonde kept pulling the egg to herself.

"Fine." Luna eventually said, surrendering. "But only because I love you."

"Time's up!" Xenophilius yelled, running towards the girls.

"I win! I'm the Easter Queen!" Ginny squealed contentedly, proudly displaying her basket

"Yay Ginny!" Luna squeaked, smiling even though she had lost.

"Oh, damn!" Luna's father groaned. He was a sore loser, unlike his daughter. "This is just beginner's luck!"

But the girls didn't give him the littlest bit of attention, as their post game excitement brought their lips to press onto each other.

When they pulled away, they were smiling broadly.

Then, they both froze when they realised that Xenophilius was standing right behind them.

He didn't know about them yet.

To their surprise, he didn't have any bad reaction. On the contrary, he simply congratulated Ginny for her win.

It hadn't been made official to him, but he knew already, it seemed.

Maybe that was why he had invited Ginny over, the 'closest friend' actually meant 'girlfriend' to him, maybe.

The two girls felt relieved.

* * *

Back to the Grangers' house, the meal had come to an end.

Hermione and her friends were eating chocolate eggs, feeling a bit sleepy as a consequence of their big lunch.

Suddenly, their peace and quiet was interrupted by a loud thump coming from the chimney.

"Oh, God, what was that?" said Hermione, startled.

"It came from our chimney, it seems." Donald observed. He had a worried look on his face.

Draco's grey eyes widened in utter terror as he wasn't completely clueless as to what that might be. Who that might be, to be exact.

"Hermione... is your fireplace connected to Floo Network?" He asked.

"Oh, well, yes... I think... why?" the girl replied, not giving it too much thought.

"You don't think that...?" Harry said, realising what it could mean.

All doubt was cleared when a sling figure stepped into the dining room, shaking the ashes off of themselves.

"Good afternoon." Said a stern voice.

Everyone gasped at the sight of a silver haired man who was carrying a black walking stick:

It was Lucius Malfoy.


	20. The Pressure Of Walking In Your Shoes

On June 5th, 1980, a young woman named Narcissa was lying on a bed, spent. She was sweating profusely, her breath was slowing and her whole body ached.

She had just given birth to her first son.

Her husband was holding her hand, as he had been during the whole delivery process, while her newborn was in the hands of the midwife, who was washing him.

After the baby was clean, the midwife wrapped him in blankets and gave him to his mother, who held him close to her chest, her eyes watering as she met her son for the first time.

The man beside her couldn't keep his tears from falling at the sight of this crying baby boy, happiness and excitement taking over him, realising he had just become a father.

"Hold him, Lucius." the woman said in a croaked voice.

Lucius slowly took his son away from his mother's grasp and smiled through his tears upon carrying him in his arms. "Hello, Draco." He whispered. Rocking him slightly, Lucius managed to soothe the baby. He stopped crying, he only moved his head around slightly, fluttering his tiny eyes open and closed.

"Draco, you will do great things in your life, I know. You will conquer the world, even. "

As the years went by, little Draco got close to both of his parents, but his dad had formed a special bond with him.

Lucius was a strict father, he was never up for jokes, or affection, but he loved his son deeply.

He would do anything for him, but only if he followed the path that was already established for him.

Lucius was a mean and calculating figure and he often imposed his own beliefs on his son, If Draco dissented on something his father proposed, or even had a different idea than him, that was when the two personalities wouldn't match.

Often times Draco would find himself suffering from his father's frequent outbursts, which included being hit or emotionally abused.

He feared him. Sometimes, the sound of his steps alone was enough to make him shudder.

But Draco still loved him. He was a hero to him.

All those times they spent together, going to see Quidditch matches, roaming through Diagon Alley... Draco cherished them, they were among the only moments of utter delight between them.

As time went on, Draco learnt to listen and never go against him.

If he kept him on his good side, if he was able to please him enough, Lucius would reward him with expensive gifts, like new brooms or antiques.

A good way to hide his insecurities was bully other people.

If he made someone feel small, he would be granted the feeling that he would always look for, he felt superior.

In Hogwarts, he was a leader, people followed him and feared him, but they also adored him. Those were all the things that he felt for his father.

In his eighth year in the magical school, he had changed his ways. The war of the year before had made him reevaluate his life and realise what was really important to him.

For example, he had found love and it was with the person that he had been hating for ages.

But, he had to admit, that he was the one to save his life, not his father, in the end.

* * *

That Easter Sunday of 1999, when Lucius descended from a chimney, Draco was at a loss for words.

His howler, it seemed, was not filled with empty threats, it was a promise.

"Who is that man? What is he doing here, Hermione? Does he know that this is home invasion?" Hermione's dad said, angry, as he got and from his chair and walked to the intruder.

"No, don't go near him. This is Draco's father. He's a dangerous man." Hermione warned, grabbing her father's arm.

Differently from the others, Rosemary wasn't frightened by the presence of that man.

She found him attractive, if anything.

"Oh, is that Santa Claus? I didn't remember him to be this hot." she said, fanning herself.

Draco didn't mind her, he got up and walked to his father. Then, he was only able to say a few words.

"Father, what are you doing here?"

"I saw that you did not respond to my letter. Therefore, I came here to fetch you myself." Lucius said in a cold tone.

"You can't force that upon me, father. You can't expect me to just go back home and forget everything after you and mother have completely ignored my existence for months." Draco said bitterly. "Also, these people now are _my friends_. And Harry is my _boyfriend_."

"How dare you speak in such an obscene manner? These people are not your people, Draco. They must have put a spell on you or something, because I can't recognise you!" Said Lucius, walking closer to his son. He looked downright sickened.

"Father, I am not you." Draco spat. "Now I know, I don't want to be like you. You're a cruel man, You cut me out of your life because you didn't agree with my life choices, when I always did anything I could to make you happy, even if it meant being a death eater. I am still mourning over losing you. I spent months waiting for you to contact me, but if you are not willing to accept me for who I am, then I don't care about seeing you."

As he finished, Draco was panting and sweating a bit. He wasn't crying, though and he wasn't going to, not this time.

"You are a Malfoy, your blood is pure, therefore you should not hang out with this... scum. Or this pervert." his father said, referring to Harry, who had not said a word until now.

He didn't want to interfere with Draco's issues with his dad, but he found it rather hard not to.

He tried to say something, but Draco shut him up with a gesture of his hand.

"Don't you dare speak ill of Harry! He is my family now. Hell, he has been more family in these months than you have ever been in nineteen years. And Ron, he gave me his house for two weeks. Yeah, the same people you taunted so much were fine with having me in their home."

"It was a pleasure, by the way." Ron added.

"And now," Draco continued. "I'm here, in a place that belongs to muggleborns. Where were you, father? You told me yourself, 'do not come home or we will kill you'."

"We didn't contact you as we were disgusted by you. We don't think that you're this person now. You've just been influenced. We both know that your place is with us. We are willing to forgive you if you stop with this nonsense, even if you hurt us greatly."

said Lucius, stretching his arm so that his son could take his hand.

"And you didn't hurt me, right?" Draco's tone was beginning to raise. "I'm telling you, if you're not going to accept me for who I am, then I have to ask you to leave."

"Draco..." his dad murmured, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Remember who you are. You can have the glory with us... you can be as rich as you'd ever imagined..."

His son pushed him away violently.

"I am finally free, father. The price to pay, though, is to live without a real family. It hurts, but I will manage." he said, glancing at his boyfriend.

"Then, you are no son of mine, not anymore." Lucius snapped.

"I don't know how you can just forget about our good times, the Quidditch championships... and just say this. Did you even love me or did you only care about the way I made you appear? " said Draco, trying to ignore the lump in his throat.

The other people in the room wouldn't dare say or do anything. No wands were raised.

They simply remained seated at the table, watching as Draco and his father fell apart, right in front of them.

"I do love you," said Lucius. "Hence my pain in seeing you so... mingled with this... trash."

"You think you're so noble, but you're mentally poor. You only care about appearances, but the truth is you're simply a coward." Draco spat.

He had finally said it. After years of bottling this up, he had found the courage to spit it out in his father's face, at last.

He didn't regret talking like this to him, not one bit.

His father's face suggested shock. He couldn't believe what his son had just said to him. He never thought that he could ever speak to him in such manner, it seemed.

Harry wasn't able to contain himself anymore, so he rose to his feet and went to stand next to his boyfriend.

"Time to go now, Lucius. You're not welcome here." he said.

"Ah, Potter, I'll say it again" Mr Malfoy addressed him, livid. "You find pleasure in ruining families, don't you? My son had never felt anything towards other males, before you. You somehow put it into his head. Did you use a love potion, perhaps?"

"Then, I guess you don't know your son at all." Harry smirked. "He likes men, all right. Because he makes love to me, every. single. night."

"How dare you?" Lucius Malfoy hissed, reaching for his wand. This brought Harry back to that time he had freed Dobby and that man had tried to hex him.

Lucius couldn't help trying to hurt him, by the looks of it.

As the pale man opened his mouth to cast a spell, his son disarmed him.

"Don't touch him." Draco said fiercely, clenching his fists.

Draco's words got through his father like a knife through butter. His eyes were widened, as he was incredulous. He looked at his hand without the wand, then he glared at his son.

"You've just attacked your own father." he said, coldly.

"No, you are no father of mine." Draco said, stiffly.

There was nothing more that Lucius could say to his son in that moment. He had ended him.

Both father and son had broken the bonds that kept them together. Draco felt as if a hot knife had just slashed his chest. It hurt to say those words, but then again, his father didn't seem to break down when he'd said the same thing to him, only minutes before.

"Enough!" Hermione yelled, rising from her seat. She ran to where Harry was standing and stood there as well. "I have to ask you to leave my house." she said slowly.

In that moment, everyone thought that Lucius Malfoy would have used his old slur on her, but he didn't argue with her. He turned to his son, instead.

"Draco, the offer still stands." he simply said, then he took his wand from the floor and disapparated, emitting a loud 'pop'.

Hermione's parents were still in their seats, looking terrified. This was one of the disadvantages of having a witch for a daughter - strange things would manifest.

Rosemary's reaction to the magical disappearance didn't match expectations.

"Where did Santa go? He's so good with special effects." She chanted.

Harry instinctively looked at his boyfriend and put a loving hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" he asked him in a worried tone.

Draco shifted his head slightly, so that he could face him. "I am totally fine, really. I've given up on him. His acceptance is something I will never get." he said, sighing. "I'll just have to go on and come to terms with a life without a family."

At this point, there was nothing more that he could do. He had tried so hard to reason with his dad, but, apparently, his hateful views were significantly more important than his father instincts.

"Hey," said his boyfriend, squeezing his shoulder lightly. " I know it hurts but, with time, you will realise that 'family' isn't always I am your family now. We all are."

Draco hated Harry for his ability to bring him to tears. Hell, he had been able to avoid crying through the whole of the confrontation with Lucius, yet, at Harry's words, his eyes rained teardrops like a British shower.

He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into a warm embrace, his tears springing freely.

The tension in his body faded as Harry squeezed back.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you, too, Draco. everything's going to be alright, I promise you. As long as I am here with you, no one will ever hurt you." The black haired boy whispered back.

Draco knew that his words were pure honesty. He felt so safe in those strong arms, the arms that would protect him from the evil aspects of life. He didn't want that moment to end.

Ron and Hermione then joined in on the hug, reassuring him and telling him how great he was.

He didn't think he deserved to be loved so much. He wondered what he had done to have the most amazing people in the world as his friends and lover.

Thoughts of his father left his brain as he basked into the warmth of three of the most important people in his life.

He knew that, in that moment, there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

He was home.


	21. Cascade Of White

One warm afternoon, in May, as the three happy couples were chilling under their tree, basking in its shadow, an owl delivered a very special letter, it was white with golden borders and there was a rose in each angle.

Hermione picked it up and carefully tore the envelope open, five pairs of curious eyes watching over her. She pulled out an embellished piece of parchment and began examining its content.

 _"Together with their families_

 ** _Angelina Johnson_**

 _and_

 ** _George Weasley_**

 _request the honour of your presence at their wedding celebration_

 _Saturday, 15th of May_

 _Weasley Burrow, Devon, England, Great Britain."_

"George is getting married? And this is how he lets us know?" The brunette said, dropping the invitation letter and covering her gasping mouth with both hands.

"Oh, wow!"said Harry, happy as ever. It was about time George could have something so beautiful and positive happen in his life since his twin brother's death.

He was starting to take his life back in his hands and he couldn't be more excited for him.

Plus, he would marry his Hogwarts school sweetheart.

Ginny and her brother looked at each other, finally unmasking their fake confusion.

"Ah yes, Ginny and I knew about it, but it was supposed to be a surprise." Ron confessed, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm the one who's surprised that you didn't let this secret slip." said Ginny, rolling her eyes.

Ron wasn't good at keeping secrets. If nobody suspected that he was hiding something, he was good to go, but, if anyone ever happened to interrogate him on the matter, it wasn't a hard task to get him to spill the beans.

"In all modesty, I am proud of myself." said Ron, looking full of himself.

"But it's in a week? I mean, it's impossible to find the dresses in little to no time!" Hermione squeaked.

"Angelina's mum has already got that covered, she's a magical tailor." Ron explained.

"She has our outfits ready, Mum will send them in as soon as possible." Ginny continued.

* * *

So, the day of the wedding, everyone received their outfits for the ceremony.

Ginny and Hermione were bridesmaids, so they would be wearing the exact same dress.

It was red, with a golden belt loosely knotted around the waist, suggesting the colours of Gryffindor house - strongly representing the bride and groom's unity, as they were both Gryffindors in their Hogwarts years.

It was made of chiffon, it was long, down to the girls' feet and it had a sheer lace bodice.

They were made to be worn with golden heels.

Luna's dress was blue and it featured a deep v-neck, its top was sequin-covered and the bottom was a tulle skirt, which was almost as long as the one on the red dress, but its effect made it larger and, to Luna, it made her look like a princess.

She was in love with her gown.

She didn't pair it with the silver shoes she had been given, but she had decided to go with the simple, casual shoes that her girlfriend had given her for that Christmas.

Her whole ensemble needed to have a touch of Luna, otherwise she wouldn't have been happy about it.

All the boys were wearing tuxedos.

"So, is everyone ready?" asked Ginny, as her girlfriend zipped her up.

They were all in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for everyone to be ready to travel by portkey.

"Your brother isn't." said an annoyed Hermione, as she put a flower pin in her braided hair.

Ginny gave a sigh of frustration. Why was her brother always the last one to be ready?

"Oh, he's going crazy in there." said Harry, walking out of the dorm. "He keeps undressing and putting his suit back on because he says it doesn't look good on him!"

"He says it makes, and I quote, his 'ass look big'" said Draco, barely covering up a giggle.

"Oh, Dear. Worse than a girl!" said Hermione. "I'll go rescue him!"

She then held her skirt up and hurried out of sight.

She came back minutes later holding a smiling Ron by his arm.

Hermione had worked her magic on him to make him calm down, somehow.

Ginny and Luna shared a look, knowing exactly what had just gone down in the bedroom.

"So," Harry said, ignoring the innuendo. "The portkey is the invitation letter. Everyone ready?"

"3, 2, 1!" Said Ginny, then everyone grabbed the object and got teleported to the Burrow.

Luna screamed and laughed for the whole duration of it.

"Oh, here you are!" Molly exclaimed as she ran to them. She gave each one of them a quick hug. Normally, she would have been extremely affectionate to them, but in that moment she was too anxious to even think straight. "Come on, it's about to start! Ginny, Hermione, Best Man, come with me, quick!" she said, then she grabbed her daughter and son by the arm and pushed them inside of the tent, hurriedly. Hermione followed them in.

"Is it just me or did she just call her son 'best man'?" Draco asked, amused.

"Yeah, it's the wedding thing. No more name basis." Harry chuckled.

"I hope the cake is a giant pudding." Luna mused.

As the three last ones entered the marquee they admired the view of the whole room.

It looked almost exactly as it did for Bill and Fleur's wedding.

The carpet, this time, was red and there were no balloons; the whole of the tent was adorned with flowers, some vases were attached to its ceiling and descended in a cascade of white.

The same set of golden chairs was used, they were placed in front of many round tables, all covered by golden silky cloths.

Each table had their own vase of red roses as decoration on top.

The husband and wife to be were already standing on the wooden platform, next to each other.

The wedding would be officiated by none of other than the most beloved teacher in Hogwarts, Adrastea Sivan.

She was wearing a golden gown, this time, and her hair was wrapped in a fancy bun.

Ginny and Hermione were standing by Angelina's side, while Ron and Charlie stood alongside George.

"Friends, Loved ones..." Miss Sivan began in her tinkling voice. As she spoke, glitter fell on her shoulders. "We are gathered here to witness the marriage of George and Angelina..."

"This is so exciting." said Harry to Draco, as they sat next to each other. "I can't believe we used to play Qudditch together, it feels like yesterday!"

"I am sure that I am going to cry." said Luna. "I always cry at weddings. But in this one I will cry more because I will imagine my girlfriend as the bride and me as the groom but as another bride." she smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Poor Angie, she got the worst Weasley." Bill joked from behind Harry. "Hoping he won't drive her mad!"

Harry smiled in response. Banter in the Weasley household was one of the things he liked the most about that family.

"George Weasley, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in heath, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?" Miss Sivan proceeded, her attention fixed on the groom.

"I do." George said, smiling uncontrollably.

"And do you, Angelina Johnson, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Angelina replied, barely able to keep her tears from falling down her cheeks.

The couple put their respective rings on each other's finger.

"By the power invested in me by the Ministry Of Magic, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations!" The teacher squealed as the newly weds pressed their lips together.

The whole room fell into a loud applause.

Ginny and Hermione exchanged a tearful look, then they hugged.

Molly was almost sobbing, hugging her husband as he, too, shed a tear.

"Aw they look so in love!" said Draco, smiling and taking Harry's hand into his.

"Yeah, they are..." said Harry, absent-mindedly. He looked a bit weird, to say the least - like he was out of it. He was shaking his right leg, tapping the floor with his foot.

Draco chose to ignore it, though. It was probably that he was happy that his once fellow players had just gotten married. After all, George and the rest of the Weasleys were Harry's chosen family.

Ginny ran happily to Luna, then she twirled her around.

"Ah, Gin Gin, you looked so hot there with your red dress." Luna said, tittering.

"Thanks, you look cute too." Ginny said, blushing.

"This wedding is cool, by the way. No Nargles as party poopers."said Luna, contentedly.

Ginny finally decided that it was time to ask her girl what in the world those nargles were. She wouldn't go a day without talking about them. They were her top enemies. Hell, she even thought that they ran through her backyard to lay their chicken eggs.

"Baby girl," she started. " Will you please honour me with the details on what on Earth these nargles are?"

Luna looked around, then, when she thought it was safe to speak, she moved closer to her girlfriend and whispered in her ear.

"They say that they're the vilest creatures to have ever lived. But I have never encountered one... only their eggs."

"Oh." The Gryffindor girl said, as if she had finally understood the mystery surrounding those creatures.

She was considering telling her that hens were the ones infesting her garden, not the nargles.

But she felt that it would be a pity to burst Luna's bubble so quickly, so she played along.

"Yeah, one day we will find them and destroy them together." she said.

Luna gave a squeal of contentment and she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck, going in for a kiss.

Ginny stopped her, no one in the room knew of them, except their friends and Xenophilius.

"Let the dance begin!" Molly shouted.

Soon, the floor became a dancefloor and everyone grabbed a partner.

Luna and Ginny did a dance that was very similar to their Easter one, earning a bunch of puzzled looks.

Miss Sivan involved a reluctant Mr Lovegood in a very sensual tango, her hair glitter hitting the man with each move.

It was like Xenophilius had taken a golden glitter shower, but he didn't really mind.

That woman was too beautiful and breath taking to care.

Harry was visibly nervous.

Ron noticed that his best friend had not taken his boyfriend to dance, so he became curious as to why he would refuse to do so.

"Harry? Are you ok, mate?" he asked. "Are you afraid you will make a fool of yourself? I mean, look at my sister!" He then pointed to where Luna and Ginny were, spinning around like fools.

"No, not that..." said Harry, gulping.

"Come on, shut up and dance!" Draco intervened. "Let's show them how it's done!"

He took his boyfriend's hand and forced him to walk towards the middle of the room.

When everyone was busy dancing, therefore not looking at him, Harry let go of his anxiety and danced with his lover.

"Follow me, Ronald!" an angered Hermione said to her clumsy boyfriend.

"I'm trying! But you keep stomping on my foot!" Ron whined.

"Serves you right!" His girlfriend spat.

"Oh, babe," said a giggling Draco. "I don't know who's dancing worse, between you and me."

The two of them were dancing almost as badly as Ron and Hermione, but at least they had a sense of rhythm. Draco had a hand on Harry's waist , the other one was entwined with the other boy's. Harry gripped his shoulder firmly, even though, often times, it would slide down his arm, due to the sweat.

"You, of course." The Gryffindor teased. "Not me, as I'm a master."

"Yeah, a master of embarrassment, you mean." Draco snapped back.

Harry pretended to scoff.

Their little playful fights never failed to entertain him.

"Not in Quidditch, that one would be you. I always win."

"Well, I won at other things."said Draco, giving him a suggestive smile.

Harry felt his cheeks flare up and his hands became even sweatier that they were already.

"You mean, like my heart?" Harry asked, timidly.

"I'd say that wins Quidditch over by far." He muttered, then pressed his forehead to Harry's.

"Oh."Harry said, grinning widely. "You are so romantic."

Harry couldn't believe the amount of butterflies that his boyfriend gave him, just by holding him close.

"I'm so lucky, honestly. I'm so happy to be dancing with you tonight." The taller boy stated.

"Me too." said Harry, closing his eyes contentedly.

He was always taken over by overwhelming joy whenever he was with him.

There, dancing at a wedding,he was even more joyous. He was not afraid to show anyone that he loved _him_ , another male. And his love for him was stronger than any spell, it was simple and pure and it was all it took to make him happy. He wanted to feel this way forever.

They stayed like this for a while. They didn't even need to move.

Just breathing into each other, feeling each other's bodies close, was enough to make them ecstatic.

"May I have your attention, please?" Mrs Weasley called out, after clearing her throat.  
"I'd like to make a toast to my son and his new wife..."  
As the woman spoke, Harry couldn't hear a word of what she was saying. He was too much in trance, looking into those grey eyes that would always hypnotize him.  
Soon, it was Ron's turn to speak.  
"To my brother, who used to hex me as a kid, testing his atrocities on me..."  
Harry still wouldn't listen.  
This was it. He heard nothing but his own heart thumping in his ears, as time perilously got closer to his speech.

As each Weasley made a toast, Harry felt his anxiety grow stronger and stronger.  
 _He had to do this._  
He wondered if he had made the right decision.  
He could also choose not to go through with it.  
But he didn't want to chicken out. It wasn't in his blood to run away from things.  
He needed to man up and do it.  
Harry was brave, it was what made him a Gryffindor.  
This was simply a walk in the park, as far as his experiences went.  
"Congratulations Big Brother!" Came Ginny's voice. It was the signal. Harry was going to be the next one raising his glass for the newly weds.  
"...and now, time for Harry's words!" Said Arthur Weasley, wiping a residue of his tearful speech.  
Breathing heavily, Harry detached himself from his dancing partner and walked to where Arthur was standing.  
Mr Weasley gave Harry a soft squeeze in his shoulder. He didn't know that the boy took it as a sign of encouragement. He must have simply done it out of affection.

"Good evening everyone!" He started, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "I've known these two for almost eight years and I can tell you that they were marvelous Quidditch players!"  
"Not as good as you!" Angelina broke in, beaming.  
"Seeing them today warms my heart greatly. I honestly can't imagine them being separated. I think Angelina is perfect for George, their personalities merge together beautifully." He continued.  
George wrapped an arm around his new wife, pulling her closer as his friend delivered such beautiful words.  
Angelina put her hands on her chest, feeling so much affection towards her ex team mate.

"I see them and I can't help identifying myself in them. Their love reminds me of my experience with my boyfriend, Draco, who is with me today..." He went on.  
Draco didn't expect him to talk about him, so he gasped lightly as many pairs of eyes fixated on his figure. His face turned crimson red at the attention and flashed Harry an almost tear filled smile.  
He never missed an opportunity to flatter him, especially in front of other people.  
He was something else, really.  
And he was _his_.

Then, a delightful music started playing from miss Sivan's flute.

Hermione began to think that maybe Harry had brought up Draco for a reason. Could it be _that reason?_  
She tried to think that maybe she might have been wrong.  
Well, she was never wrong, after all, but she wondered, had she been right, if that would be the right thing to do.  
"Mione, where is he getting at?" Ron asked.  
Even Ron was becoming suspicious of Harry's next move.  
And Ron rarely saw things. But when he did...boy, was he right.  
"I don't know." She replied, not knowing what to think.

"George and Angie here have taught me that if you love someone, why should you wait to always have them by your side?" Harry expressed.  
He took a deep, long breath, then, his whole body trembling, he got down on one knee.

"He's doing it!" Hermione gasped, tugging at Ron's suit.  
"What is he doing?' asked Luna, naively, as her girlfriend's brown eyes widened in shock.  
"Oh no, he did not." Ginny said in response.  
Harry closed a fist and when he opened it back something was in his hand, a ring box.

Inside of it was a white gold ring which proudly displayed an emerald in its middle.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, will you marry me?"


	22. A Meaning To His Life

**_Six days earlier_**

The news of George and Angelina's wedding inspired Harry.

The components of the pair were both barely twenty-year-olds, yet they were ready to tie the knot.

So, why shouldn't he do the same with Draco?

True, they had not been together for a long time, but it was proven to him, in many occasions, that they were soulmates.

He had found true love and he wanted to hold on to it as much as he could, therefore, getting married would only reinforce this bond.

He was going to propose at the wedding, as part of his speech. It would have been so romantic, in his opinion.

He knew that in UK, in that year, same-sex marriage was not legal.

However, in the wizarding world, such exception was granted in France - he had hear Fleur talk about it, once.

He only needed a ring. He knew he could find one in Diagon Alley, but he couldn't really leave the school premises without permission. After the war, even students of age were put on a watch.

He knew that the jeweler wasn't fond of delivering items by owl and, in addition to it, money to pay for it was in Gringott's.

He had chosen an emerald embezzled ring for a particular reason; he wanted Draco to be reminded of his eyes every time he took a glance at it.

He didn't intend to reveal his intention to his friends - he wanted it to be a surprise for everyone.

Also, he ran no risks of Draco knowing before it was time.

So, he thought he would ask a professor to let him leave the school for a day for his mission.

He would have told Draco that he had to be out to visit the Ministry for some aurors counseling.

But who could he ask that would keep it a secret?

Professor McGonagall was on leave because of a death of a distant relative, so there was only one person in the whole school that could have accepted; Miss Sivan.

So, shortly before dinner, he found himself knocking on the door of her office.

"Do come in!" the teacher said in her calm tone.

Harry slowly pulled the door open, then he entered the room timidly.

The eccentric teacher was sitting on her chair, grading papers for some first-years.

He had never noticed this before, but her office was filled with pictures of fairies.

She even had a cage full of those flying creatures, who were constantly shining a light.

Obviously, the trail of glitter from the door to the table was a must.

He was growing more and more convinced that the woman right before him was either a fairy lover or a hybrid herself.

"Oh, Potter!" she said as she raised her eyes to see who the guest was. "Congratulations, you restored your legacy in my subject." she smiled broadly.

"This is not what I was meaning to discuss, actually." The boy said, scratching his head. "I need to tell you something very important."

Miss Sivan nodded for him to sit on the chair, all while still scribbling on the essays.

"I'm all ears." she said.

The black haired boy took a deep breath. Talking about this very personal issue with an almost stranger wouldn't be too easy.

"Well, as we both know, on Saturday, my friends George and Angelina are getting married- I mean, of course you know, since you're officiating it- and I'm planning something special for that day" He said, all in one breath.

"You mean, like a surprise for the bride and groom to be?" the woman asked, dipping her quill in the ink.

"A surprise, yes, but not for them... Um, actually, I want to propose to my boyfriend, while I'm at it." he said, playing idly with the glitter on the table, getting it all over his fingers.

At this, the teacher stopped working on the parchment and looked at him.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'd say that it's a bit too soon, maybe? I mean, the scandal only got out in December - although I'm inclined to think that your relationship started a month prior. But then again, who am I to stop this? After all, I married my first husband at eighteen and I had known him for around... two months?" Miss Sivan responded.

She was a modern witch, to put it out there. She had married four times, once it was with a pimp. Rumor had it, she would participate in some of the activities.

"I know it's not been too long, but I'm in love with him, you know? I feel as close to him as can be, now, and I want to take advantage of this." He replied.

"I saw it when you played Quidditch together that time, when you exchanged a kiss in mid air." Miss Sivan observed. "So, do you need my help with your proposal, dear?"

" I need to get the ring, but it's in Diagon Alley. To go there, I need to be granted permission and, since the headmistress isn't here, I was wondering if you could authorize my absence from school tomorrow. Also, if you confirmed to Draco and my friends that I'm at the ministry for Auror talk, I'd be grateful." he said.

"Oh, of course you can go! Even tomorrow - I value these acts of love! And don't worry, your secret is safe with me." The ex Hufflepuff said, accepting his request.

And so Harry did, by the evening of the day after he had his ring, safely hidden under the invisibilitycloak in his room.

 ** _Present day_**

Draco stayed silent for a bit, hardly believing what had just happened.

Harry James Potter had just asked the fateful question.

All eyes were on him. Silence was king in the whole of the tent.

It was like when the scandal had gotten out, all over again.

Many attendants had their jaws dropped.

Some of them exchanged awkward looks, fearing the worst.

Luna started jumping around excitedly, tugging on Ginny's dress.

Harry had a hopeful look on his face, waiting for his lover's response.

"He so did!" Hermione said in a loud whisper, still shocked at what Harry had just done.

"Oh Merlin...He's gone nuts. If Draco says no, it's the end of our best friend." Ron expressed, feeling anxious. He grabbed his girlfriend's hand in hope.

The Slytherin was suddenly run over by a spiral of memories.

Almost eight years before, Draco had been denied a friendship with the famous 'boy who lived', only to make friends with people he considered 'unworthy', at the time.

He would always find ways to make Harry miserable, as some sort of a 'vendetta' for refusing him. Harry was everything that he wanted to be.

His taunting grew more by the year, until he realised that these were only his ways to seek attention from a person he actually liked.

As time passed, they two of them found themselves in a relationship together.

And it was the best thing that could have ever happened to them.

Their first kiss had not been romantic; on the contrary it had been something done out of teasing.

But it had been long overdue.

Then, they began their secret escapades in the Room of Requirement, which were meant to stay meaningless.

But they undeniably fell in love, almost at first touch.

It was their building familiarity that did the trick. They became used to each other's bodies and minds, so much to form a connection unlike any.

They had been humiliated in front of the whole school, yet that had not been enough to sever said bond.

They defied expectations when their relationship grew stronger and more mature.

They risked losing everything because of a jealous, untrustworthy, girl who had disguised herself as an obnoxious foreigner.

But they made it through this trial as well.

This was because they were perfect for each other, their complicity was made possible by their differences, which accentuated their similarities, thus making them two halves of a heart.

No one had ever made Draco's heart beat so fast, even just by looking into his eyes.

He had never said _I love you_ to anyone in his life before.

Harry had saved him, not just physically, he had given a meaning to his life.

And he wanted to feel like this for the rest of his life.

The boy stopped to think for a moment. He was young, he would have been nineteen soon, but then again it didn't mean they had to marry straight away.

"Harry, I..." he said, teary eyed, when his boyfriend was beginning to sweat profusely.

The green eyed boy had started feeling nauseous. His boyfriend was crying and he stuttered his words... He was fearing that he would slap him with a sound 'No.'

"I can't look!" said Ginny, burying her face in her girlfriend's shoulder, scared that Harry would get his heart broken.

"In this life, I never knew luck." Draco continued, looking straight into Harry's eyes. "But you are the only luck I will ever need. You saved me. And every day you make me the happiest person in the world... I never want to forget how you make me feel."

"I feel the same." said Harry, as his eyes began to leak hot tears. He was now sure that the answer would have been positive.

He could finally breathe again.

"Therefore," Draco said, smiling through his wet face. "Yes. I will Marry you."

Harry got up and the two lovers shared their first kiss as an engaged couple.

Everyone cheered and applauded loudly, even George and Angelina, who weren't mad that Harry had taken some of the attention away from them.

Hermione and Ron hugged, both of them were crying .

"Aw, this is just so beautiful!" said the girl, wiping her eyes upon pulling away.

"That is just so pure and... I just can't!" Ron said, his tears flowing on his cheeks. "They grow up so fast!"

"Congratulations!" Luna shouted, holding her dress to avoid stomping on it with every leap her feet took.

Ginny took a sigh of relief, then she pulled Luna closer and jumped with her, unable to fight her tears.

When the now fiancés parted, Harry put the ring on Draco's finger and then embraced him in a loving hug, breathing him in. Their happiness skyrocketed through the roof, infecting every guest present.

Molly cheered, too, feeling proud of Harry. She had motherly instincts towards him so she felt as if yet another son would be tying the knot.

"Aren't they a bit too young, mum?" Percy wondered.

"Perce, your father and I got married when we weren't even twenty yet." his mother pointed out.

"Yeah, but they're both males!" Percy observed.

"Oh, it could be symbolic? Or they could marry somewhere where it is permitted? Don't spoil this, son!" Molly reprimanded.

Percy always had to be the party crasher, but he didn't argue. He ended up clapping his hands.

In the heat of the moment, as everyone was fixed on Harry and Draco, no one seemed to notice Luna and Ginny's quick kiss, except for Molly, whose smile dropped as she did. Although, she chose to ignore it.

"Congratulations, Harry! I knew he would say yes!" a thrilled Hermione squealed, launching herself at her friend and squeezing him tightly.

Draco was assaulted by Luna's bone crushing hug. "Now you have to keep the Nargles away from him, till death do you part!" The girl squeaked as Draco giggled.

"I will." he said, kissing her on the cheek.

Ron joined in on Hermione and Harry's hug.

"I love you, brother!" He said to his best friend, smiling through the tears.

Then, the Weasley boy moved on to Draco, just as Luna went to Harry.

He simply shook his hand.

"Treat him right." He said, in a fake stern voice. "Or else."

Draco looked a bit scared, so Ron couldn't keep a straight face. " Come here, you twat!" He said, wrapping his arms around him.

"I will, you know that." the Slytherin simply responded, smiling widely.

Ginny was the last one to congratulate her ex. She hugged him like a sister would, rubbing his back lightly. "Congratulations, you deserve this!"

Harry smiled, tightening his grip around her. "Thank you, Gin."

The girl almost forgot to hug Draco, but she fixed it almost immediately.

"Ah, Draco how could I leave you behind? Congratulations! I couldn't be happier for you! You're both in good hands." she told him, while resting her chin on his shoulder.  
"That's for sure. Thank you so much!" Draco responded, squeezing back.  
It was weird to think that only months before he'd found her the most annoying person in the world.  
He remembered her insufferable giggle as she'd play with Harry's hair. Now, there she was, congratulating him for accepting to marry her ex boyfriend.

Draco and Harry were soon swarmed in a crowd of best wishes and affection.

The Bride and Groom even drank to them.

When it was time for cake and the attention fell back on the newly weds, Molly went to talk to her daughter and Luna.

"So," she began, sitting next to where Ginny was. "Care to fill me in?"

Her daughter gave her a puzzled look. "On what? Harry? I had no idea he would..."

Mrs Weasley gave her half a smile, an eyebrow raised. "Oh, I don't mean that." she said, looking from Ginny to Luna, then back to her daughter.

The two girls were holding hands on the table. They let their hands go as soon as she saw them.

"What, then?" Ginny asked, feeling nervous.

"Are you two a thing?" Molly finally asked, crossing her arms.  
"What do you mean, a thing?" The Weasley girl stuttered.  
"She means an item, babe!" Luna pointed out, impatient.  
"Ill take that as a yes." Said Molly. "Ah-ha, I told your father, but he didn't think this was possible! Once again I was right!"  
Both girls were now very confused.  
"Wait, so you knew about us?" The red haired girl gave her mother a quizzical look.  
The woman nodded. "I noticed a while ago, actually. New Year's eve, to be exact." She confirmed, her lips curled into a smile.  
"Did you see our kiss, Mrs Weasley?" Asked the Ravenclaw.  
Molly shook her head. "No, but I noticed something in the air was... different. And besides, mama knows best!"  
"So... you're ok with it?" The youngest of the Weasley children addressed, feeling hopeful.  
"If I'm fine with it, of course, my sweet!" Said Molly, putting a motherly hand on her daughter's. "Don't tell your dad, but before I had him... I had my fair share of experiences with girls."  
She winked.  
Well, that was certainly unexpected.  
Ginny couldn't be happier knowing that her mum was Ok with her being in love with a girl. She had spent months filled with anxiety, in fear that she wouldn't be accepted.  
But Molly Weasley was open minded.

* * *

A few days later, back in Hogwarts, Luna and Hermione threw Harry and Draco an engagement party, which they hosted in the Room of Requirement, inviting students from all houses.

Hagrid had been invited, too, but, given his ongoing beef with Draco, he chose not to attend.

A lot of people came, like Susan Bones and other fellow D.A. members.

No Slytherin came, unsurprisingly.

The room was complete with a table filled with butterbeers and snacks and there was a pouf for each person to sit on.

It brought the newly engaged back to their first date, since the place was decorated with Gryffindor and Slytherin flags, although it was also peppered with banners saying 'Congratulations Harry and Draco'.

There was a buzzing of excited voices reverberating through the room.

Everyone, especially the girls, gathered around Draco to look at his ring.

Ron captured the guests' attention by hitting a bottle of butterbeer with his wand, producing a clink.

"So, since we're here I propose a toast to the happy couple!" He said, when everyone fell silent, raising his drink in the air.

Everyone agreed. Harry and Draco blushed, feeling embarrassed, but they were smiling, nevertheless.

"I'll start!" said an eager Hermione, flinging her hand up above.

It wasn't a coincidence that the partygoers were reminded of her behaviour in class.

"So, I've known these two since we were all midgets and I couldn't stand Draco, it was no secret..." she continued.

"Right back at you." Draco intervened in a playful tone.

The brunette glared at him slightly, but she went on, "But then Harry fell in love with him and I was forced to spend more time with him... Doing so, I was able to see that no one in this world can make my best friend happier than Draco can!" When she finished, she wiped a stray tear from her eye and cheered for the couple.

Both boys gave her a loving look.

"I agree with her!" said Ron. "Harry is my best friend, as well as my brother, and I am happy to 'deliver' him in the hands of this bloke right here. They are one of those couples that you look at thinking 'man, this is true love'! And besides, they are two of the most important people in my life. I love you so much, guys!" He, too, was weeping lightly.

"You are too sweet, Weasley!" Draco exclaimed, flashing him a grin.

Their friendship had not always been an easy ride, but they cared for each other, deeply.

"I love you too, Ronald!" said Harry, sending his best friend a non-magical air kiss.

It was Ginny's turn to speak, now. "So, um... I haven't always been a fan of this couple, but they're definitely soul mates, I found." She said, beaming.

They were both starting to feel like big brothers to her and she couldn't deny how much they loved each other. Almost as much as she and Luna did.

Sometimes, the four of them would joke about being the 'best gays' that Hogwarts had ever seen.

Not that many people were out, though.

"Harry and Draco are my favourite couple." Luna said, shrugging. "...after me and my lady." she corrected herself, as Ginny had given her a death stare.

Even Neville congratulated the pair. "I heard it was a beautiful proposal." he added.

"And at a wedding, how romantic!" Hannah Abbott stated in a dreamy voice.

"It was glorious, really." Hermione explained. "There wasn't a soul in the room that did not shed a tear."

Hannah looked like she had been told a fairytale. She was a hopeless romantic.

In the past few years, she had developed an unquestionable crush on Neville, but she'd never found the courage to come onto him.

This talk about Harry and Draco made her imagine herself and Neville as them.

"We really need to thank you, guys." Said Dean, referring to himself and Seamus. "Yes, because your courage inspired us to be courageous. " he then squeezed Seamus' hand in his.

"We are together." Seamus added.

All the people present in the room gasped, especially Ginny.

What were the odds of her dating only gay guys?

Harry asked himself how he had never noticed, given they shared a room.

They had probably cast muffliato and disillusionment charms when in bed.

But still, he mentally punched himself for having been so blind.

"That's awesome!" he said, "Thank you, it means a lot."  
It really flattered him to know that he had given someone the strength to be open about their relationship with another male.  
He had always been an icon in his Hogwarts years, but he was never too grateful for it, as people's expectations of him were high.  
Now, it was all about bravery and pushing others to never be afraid of their surroundings.

"Thanks for the support." said Draco, smiling.  
The good in his heart was expanding, clearly.  
He had never thought, in the past, that he would ever be able to help someone in the process of being themselves. Yet, he had just participated in a couple's coming out. A new feeling invaded him, it was the idea of being a good person. And it was all because of the boy sitting next to him, his fiancé.

"We love you all. And now... time to drink!" He shouted.

As he said that, everyone rejoiced and began pouring the warm butterbeer down their throats.

Ron had begun a while before, so this would be his second bottle.

As the momentary euphoria of alcoholic beverages kicked in, all the people in the room joined forces to lift the couple in the air and having them crowd surf.

Harry and Draco couldn't help laughing hysterically at their friends' craziness.

"For they're jolly good fellas!" the tipsy crowd chanted.

They were so into it that no one heard an unwanted person step into the room.

The intruder watched in amusement as screaming young adults celebrated an union in glee.

Oh, the joy of young love. Such a pure feeling.

What was not to cherish in such a cute couple?

The fact that one of them was your son and didn't mention such life-changing event to you, for example.

"Congratulations, Draco." a female voice came out of the person.

Everyone froze as they heard her speak.

"Mother?" said Draco, still lying on various pairs of hands.


	23. Mama Knows Best

How was it that the Malfoys always heard these things about Draco? First, that he would have been spending easter at Hermione's house, now that he had gotten engaged to Harry.

Draco was starting to think that there was a sneak in Hogwarts. It was probably Blaise.

"What a careless son you are, Draco, getting engaged and forgetting to tell your mother." Narcissa Malfoy reprimanded as she walked towards her son.

"Well, I simply thought that you wouldn't care."Draco said as he was finally put down.

"But I do care! I am your mother, Draco." Narcissa scoffed.

"Yes, but father made himself clear. And if you're trying to indoctrinate-"

Draco tried to say, but his mother's unbelievably calm voice got the best of his.

"Oh no, dear. Please, walk with me outside of this... area." His mother suggested.

Draco hesitantly accepted her offer and followed her out of the room.  
Harry had not argued Narcissa Malfoy's presence, not one bit.  
She had appeared out of nowhere, true, but he knew that her heart wasn't as black as her husband's. After all, she had lied to the dark lord to keep him safe.  
And besides, his fiancè needed this and Harry couldn't always speak up for him, Draco was perfectly capable of standing up for himself.  
"Wow, Draco's parents really love crashing celebrations, don't they?" Ron observed, shaking his head, showing a half a smile on his face.

* * *

"Look, Draco," said Narcissa. "My opinion on the matter differs greatly for your father's." she explained.

"Oh, it does?"asked Draco, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

It wasn't like she had dignified him with a letter.  
Her behaviour had been the same as her husband's, she had been no better than him.  
She just wanted to play the victim, working on her son's pity to get back in his grace.  
She was so similar to Pansy, on this matter.  
His trusting habits needed to change, he wasn't going to fall for his mother's pleas.

"Look, my dear, I'm sorry that I didn't get in touch with you. As you know, your father won't smile at you if you contradict him." she voiced her apologies.  
Her red stained lips were letting out a sigh, while her shaky fingers put her hair behind an ear.  
She wanted to look like the submissive wife everyone thought her to be.

"If you say so." Draco rolled his eyes. He couldn't deny that she was a good actress., at least.

"I couldn't talk to you before, but now I am here, Draco, hoping you will see past your rage and at least try to forgive your own flesh and blood." Narcissa pleaded, looking even more emotionally destroyed than before, her gaze fixated on the floor.  
"You could have tried to at least send me a sign of you still being my mother! Yet you gave me the cold shoulder." Draco snapped.  
"Oh, I know, my love, I don't expect you to grant me forgiveness right away... But know that, even though I can't understand your liking for a male... I will support you through it. Even if it means the Malfoy name will not see its successors through you."  
The woman said.

Draco suddenly felt a lot of love for his mother. He wasn't fully convinced of her words, but he had to admit that he had missed her and her reaction to his relationship with Harry was nothing like his father's blinding rage... Maybe, all hope wasn't lost, after all. He would live without a father, but at least he would still have a mother. All it took was to give her one chance.  
After all, she was his mother, not some bratty girl.  
"Mother... I've missed you, I'm not going to lie... I thought I lost you..." He managed to say through his broken voice.  
"I missed you too, my sweet son. You'll see, your father will understand too, one day. You just have to give him time." Narcissa said in a delicate tone, showing Draco a comforting smile.  
"I don't really care if he doesn't, honestly." Draco said, bitterly.  
"So if you wanted me present at your wedding, I'd be happy to oblige." Mrs Malfoy said, letting tears escape her eyes, putting a loving hand on her son's shoulder.  
Draco couldn't really say no to her tear filled face.  
"Of course, mum." He said.  
Narcissa looked relieved with Draco's answer, then she cupped his face in her hands and planted a soft kiss on his temple.  
"I love you my sweet boy." She breathed.

* * *

The next day, in the afternoon, Draco and Harry agreed to a meeting with Narcissa, in Hogsmeade.  
It would be a way to observe the woman's behaviour on them being a thing.  
"Thank you for agreeing to this, babe." Draco said to his lover as they made their way to the three broomsticks, holding hands.  
"I did this just for you. I mean I know she's better than your dad, but... Are you sure she's completely honest with you?" Said Harry, expressing his concerns.  
She was a good person, through it all, but she was still a Malfoy.  
He didn't really feel like trusting her right away.  
"I know my mother." His fiancé stated.  
Harry knew that she wasn't exactly genuine, given her abilities to lie to powerful legilimens, but he chose not to interfere with his lover's happiness.  
"Ah, here you are, my lovely boys!" Said Mrs Malfoy when they entered the bar.  
She was already seated, waiting for them.  
She had chosen a table in the center of the room. It wasn't that ideal - Harry thought - as this was the perfect way to get all the attention.  
The woman was wearing her hair in an elegant bun.  
Her choice of outfit was definitely posh, it was a very expensive khaki gown, paired with her brown heels.  
She had at least four rings on her hands. The light in the room made a ruby on one of her rings shine as she waved her hand to the pair, motioning for them to sit with her.  
She got up from her chair to give them both a one arm hug, together with two air kisses.  
"Hello, Narcissa." Said Harry, nodding his head at her when he sat down.  
Draco's face sported a smile that wouldn't drop at all costs.  
"Hello, mother." He said.  
Madame Rosmerta eyed the woman eerily, not really enjoying her presence in her bar.  
She still managed to speak in her sweet voice when talking to Harry.  
"Hello, dears, butterbeers for everyone?"she asked.  
"Yes, three-" Harry began saying, but Narcissa shook her head.  
"Two." She said. "And one red currant rum with lemon zest and three ice cubes, please."  
The bartender kept her death stare. She left mocking Narcissa.  
"Even her drink is posh." She muttered to herself.  
"Well." Narcissa said, when her fancy drink was placed in front of her. Her eyed then fixed on the ring on her son's left hand. "Marriage, uh? What pushed you to make this choice?"  
"Oh," said Draco, looking at his fiancé lovingly. "Because we want to be together for the rest of our lives... Wait, how do you know about this?" He asked, even though the Hogwarts sneak theory made sense to him.  
"Oh," the woman giggled. " The other day, on one of my strolls through Diagon Alley, I came accross this Jewel Shop.  
While looking for a beautiful ring to add to my collection, I was congratulated by the seller for your wedding. I was confused at first, but then he told me that Mr Potter had bought the engagement ring right there, in his shop."  
Harry cursed himself for being so blunt when he bought the ring.  
When he purchased it, he told the man behind the counter that he was looking for an emerald engagement ring - obviously, it didn't take the man long to put two and two together.  
"Does father know?" Asked Draco, while wrapping his fingers around his butterbeer mug handle, looking down on it.  
"Oh, naturally. I tried to convince him it was good news - he hasn't spoken to me since. So I fear he won't be attending." The woman said in a gloomy voice.  
Harry bit his lip. She looked convincing, he had to admit.  
Was she really going against her own husband for her son's 'tantrum'?

Around five minutes later, Narcissa's rum was almost finished. Harry wondered how such a fragile looking woman could drink this fast.

Their talk had been fine, up to that moment.

The woman and her son were going on about memories and happy times, when Narcissa mentioned the wedding ceremony.

"So, I was thinking, I could organise your big day, dears." she gushed. "You don't want to use an old tux, Draco. We need to find you something... incredible looking."

Oh, the Malfoys and their fondness for appearances.

"I don't really care about the looks, honestly." Draco declared.

He and Harry could have said "I do" in their pajamas, for all he cared.

"But the place will be packed with photographers. After all, it's the Chosen One's wedding." His mother chirped.

* * *

While Harry and Draco were out with Draco's mum, the remaining four of the group were under their favourite tree, preparing themselves for the impending exams.  
Hermione was the most nervous among them.  
Not many days from then, she would have been enduring in NEWTs, her most dreaded exams.  
She had been going on about it for years, spreading anxiety throughout her peers.  
Luna and Ginny's studying sessions weren't that easy, as they'd spend most of their time together kissing and being cute.  
However, Luna still noticed that her friend was a little too tense to only be worried about the NEWTs. She was constantly tapping her book with her quill, biting her lips and looking downright uneasy.  
Even Ron had noticed that.  
"Ok, now you will tell me what's bothering you." He demanded.  
"Nothing." His girlfriend said in a stern voice, not daring to meet his gaze.

"Last time it was 'nothing' you and Harry didn't speak for a month. So, tell me what this is all about!" said Ron, close to losing his temper.

"I told you, it's nothing." Hermione repeated. Her nostrils were beginning to flare. Talking to her in this state was like trying to cuddle with a hungry lion.

"Mmm, no. I see that something is up." said Luna, arching her lips.

Hermione's eyes narrowed and her neck turned red, she gave the impression that she was on the verge of exploding. But, just as her lips parted to speak, she started looking ill.

She placed a hand on her mouth and hurled in the direction of the castle.

Luna, Ginny and Ron all exchanged questioning looks.

"Babe, are you alright?" Ron shouted, but his girlfriend wouldn't give him an answer.

"She looked like she was about to throw up." Ginny remarked.

Ron's eyes widened in worry. "What if she has a virus? If so, I caught it, too!" he groaned.

"I'll go check on her before she runs into Pukey Boplnikes." Luna offered, then she got up and made her way to the girls' bathroom, leaving Ginny and her brother alone to wonder about Hermione's sudden sickness.

* * *

After Narcissa left- her send-off including a very awkward group hug- the couple found themselves walking back to the castle.

"See, my mother isn't so bad." Draco happily observed, pushing his boyfriend playfully forward as they stepped on the soft grass.

Harry had mixed feelings regarding her, though.

"She wouldn't shut up about you being presentable at the Chosen One's wedding... sounds to me like she wants to take advantage of the attention we'd get to plan something nefarious." he snorted.

Draco stopped walking to give him a 'really?' look.

In many occasions Harry had proven himself right, he knew that, but he was suspicious of everything lately. When he slept in Draco's dorm he was afraid that a menace would kidnap them in their sleep - said menace was Blaise, to be exact.

"Stop seeing evil schemes everywhere, babe! That is my mother, she has her own sense of humour." he whined.

"Whenever I'm suspicious of something, I always happen to be right." Harry snapped.

Draco raised an eyebrow. When Harry was convinced on something, he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. But he was starting to abuse this power he possessed.

"Oh, will you stop being so mistrusting? Relax for once!" the Slytherin voiced.

The truth was that Harry was undeniably stressed because of the NEWTs and everything else and Draco knew just what he had to do to calm his nerves.

He wrapped his arms around Harry's neck, pulling their bodies closer together.

Harry sighed, circling his fiancé's back with his arms. "You're right, I'm too tense..."

"Come on, I know a way to make all this stress go away." Draco whispered, lightly brushing Harry's lips with his own and breathing against them, all while he grabbed his left buttcheek firmly.  
"Draco, we're in the middle of Hogsmeade!" Harry observed, accentuating the fact that they were outside in the open air. But he didn't remove the possessive hand from his buttock. He didn't hate it there.  
"I know that, silly." Draco purred. "Although I'm shocked that a Gryffindor like you isn't willing to have some outdoor fun. I thought your kind was known for being adventurous." He joked.  
"Are you saying I'm not Gryffindor enough?" Harry playfully asked, pretending to be offended at Draco's remarks.  
He glared him so intensely that if someone had been in the middle of them, they would have been badly charred.  
"Maybe. But I'll admit that you might have a point. I know a place that is much better. I can show you the way." Draco whispered in his ear. Then, he licked his earlobe.  
His lips formed a wicked smile as he felt the other boy shiver at the contact.  
Harry let out an involuntary gasp when he did that.  
He hated that face, it usually indicated that the other boy had something unspeakable planned out in his mind and there was no escaping from it. Not that he minded-he couldn't wait to see what his plan was- but he was supposed to be studying. Draco, that slimy bastard, knew that he just couldn't say no to his 'hot requests'.  
"Take me there." Harry managed to say. His south region was beginning to enjoy Draco's suggestions.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy had not left Hogwarts grounds yet. She had fled from Hogsmeade, but only to access the castle.  
She walked into a room.  
By the looks of it, it must have been an office. There was a desk filled with quills, books and semi-opened ink bottles.  
The woman made sure that she was alone, then she locked the door behind her with a spell.  
Not far from her was a fireplace. She walked closer to it and squatted down.  
All she had to do now was wait.  
Suddenly, the fire crackled and her lips curved into a wide smile as she saw her interlocutor, the shadow of the flames reflecting on her face.  
"Here you are." She said softly. "Operation starts now."


	24. Therapeutic Chain Of Events

When Luna reached the lavatory, she heard retching noises coming from one of the stalls.

There was no doubt as to who that was.

"Mione?" the girl called upon knocking on the sliding door. "Are you sick?"

There was a flush, then the brunette opened the door. She looked extremely pale. She stumbled to the sink to rinse her mouth.

"Oh Luna, yes, but it's not a magical virus or anything..." Hermione blurted when she turned off the water.

"Oh so you didn't digest yesterday's meatloaf? I'll admit it was too salty..." the blonde babbled.

"No... Luna, I think I might be pregnant." Hermione finally breathed.

Luna couldn't suppress a gasp.  
"What? Are you sure?" She asked.

Hermione nodded, holding on to the washbasin for support. "Since I wasn't getting my period, I took about twenty tests, magical and muggle, and they all turned out to be positive."

"Oh Merlin, what if I am pregnant, too? I haven't had my period in a while." The Ravenclaw voiced her concerns.

The Gryffindor girl couldn't repress a laugh. "Oh, Luna, you're a funny one. It's impossible for you to be pregnant if you're having intercourse with a girl."

Luna seemed to think about it, then she sighed, relieved.

In that moment, Luna's girlfriend rushed into the bathroom. "Mione? Are you alright?" she asked, out of breath.

"Oh, no, she's got a bun in the oven!" Luna tittered excitedly, earning a look of a thousand deaths.

"Don't blurt it out like this, thanks!" Hermione hissed.

Ginny covered her mouth with her hands.

If Hermione had been pregnant, she would have become an aunt. The thought made her feel excited, although she tried to conceal her enthusiasm- she didn't know whether the news would be positive for her brother or Hermione herself.

"Is that a good thing?" the redhead asked, putting a comforting hand on Hermione's forearm.

"I don't know," the brunette sighed, "Ho do you think your brother would react?"

Ginny noticed her friend's hopeful yet scary look. She didn't know, if she had to be honest. Although, her brother wasn't certainly known for being the bravest man the Wizarding World had even seen. The chances of him running away were high.

"Well, I'm not sure he would rejoice, but I guess you could tell him? I mean, if you're planning on keeping it..." The redhead suggested.

"I'll think about it... For now, keep it under your hat. Especially you, Luna." Hermione demanded.

"I won't say anything, people who don't keep secrets get bitten by Domodils." said Luna.

If the girl ever brought up magical beasts, it meant she was serious.

That night, Luna couldn't sleep.  
She wondered how her girlfriend could be fast asleep, not in the least bothered by what had happened only hours before.  
The fact that she was wrapped into her lover's arms probably helped lull her away.  
Luna was not so lucky because something was eating away at her guts.  
It was the fact that she had sworn secrecy on Hermione's condition.  
Keeping secrets wasn't Luna's favourite thing to do, as it never came easy to her.  
At dinner, when she had seen Ron, she'd had a compulsory urge to yell 'your girlfriend is pregnant!' in his face, but she suppressed it.  
Domodils had no mercy on people who didn't keep their word.  
And, besides, she had promised Hermione that her secret would be safe with her.  
Ginny should have had a worse time than her, since Ron was her own brother, but that wasn't the case.

* * *

The morning after, at breakfast, Luna tried to avoid looking Ron in the eyes.  
Harry and Draco didn't know about it, either, so she had to keep it from them as well.  
She opted to keep her eyes on Ginny. It didn't raise suspicion, as she would often spend minutes staring in awe at her girlfriend's beauty.  
Hermione's discomfort, however, didn't go unnoticed.  
"Babe, are you sure that this is only due to the NEWTs stress?" A worried Ron asked.  
When the girls went back under the tree, they had all reassured him that Hermione had suffered a panic attack for the excessive stress she was in and she had been sick as a consequence.  
"Yes, it's no big deal. Sorry if I ever lash out on you... I don't really mean to." His girlfriend simply said, giving him an apologetic look.  
"But you could at least let me help you release the tension..." Ron suggested.  
Draco thought that he had somehow read his mind on the day before.  
And that was the best medicine for stress, it had worked for Harry.  
Hermione couldn't prevent her cheeks from becoming as red as a beetroot.  
"No, Ron, I don't need distractions... I have to study... And you should too. Tell you what, you go to the library to save our seats, I'll meet you there in a bit, ok? Then we can finish the Potions assignment before our class starts."  
Ron nodded his head, then he rose to his feet, bent slightly to give his girlfriend a peck on the cheek and, ultimately, he left.  
Hermione suddenly began sweating profusely.  
"Oh, dear, Mione, are you Ok?" Harry questioned as he noticed it.  
Hermione took a deep breath, all while her eyes were shut.

"I'm _pregnant_." Her words came out as an almost inaudible whisper.

"What?" Harry and Draco exclaimed in unison, not sure they had heard her right.

"I'm pregnant." Hermione repeated, slightly raising her voice. She gulped nervously.

Harry wasn't sure about how he should have reacted. It was shocking, but at the same time he didn't know if his friend was happy about it. Judging from her expression, however, she didn't look like she was on cloud nine.

"Oh... that's... " he mumbled.  
"I don't know how to feel about this, myself!" Hermione whined. "I mean, part of me has always wanted a baby... And I seem to be pretty good at taking care of people... But another part of me is terrified. I don't know if I'm too young... Or if Ron is fine with it. What if I scare him off like this?" She was definitely agitated and she started breathing heavily.  
Ginny took her friend's hands into hers. "Mione, steady your breaths, ok? If you're this distressed, you might harm the baby." She tried to calm her down.  
Hermione nodded. Her breathing gradually slowed down until she regained herself completely.  
"Tell you what, if my brother ever tries to leave you, I will kick his nuts!" The redhead reassured.  
"Thanks, Gin." Said Hermione. She then removed her hands from Ginny's hold and flashed her a bright smile.

Ginny thought that changing the subject would be a good idea, so she turned to Draco and Harry and asked them about their talk with Narcissa, as they had not been able to discuss it before.

Draco and Harry told them all about it and everyone thought that Mrs Malfoy was very interested in the public recognition that would have come to her for her son's marriage to the Chosen One, but saw it as a simple reminder of the Malfoys being material people.  
The Malfoys, though, were good at concealing their true intentions.  
Draco had not been terrific at that, not recently, but his parents were aces at it.

* * *

As the five friends discussed their way through breakfast, Narcissa was in her house, pacing the floor.

Her steps reverberated through the living room, given its hugeness.

Her husband was sitting close to her, on his beloved armchair.

He was standing in front of the fireplace, tapping on the armrest impatiently.

The couple was waiting for someone to show up in their fireplace, by the looks of it.

"I thought punctuality was his forte." Lucius snorted.

"I told you, dear, he can not always be available for communication, given his situation." His wife reassured. She walked closer to him and place a loving hand on his shoulder. "You will see, he will be here any minute."

Just as she had predicted, the flames roared and a face appeared in the form of fire.

"Oh, good morning." Narcissa said with a smile.

"Greetings." said Lucius in a monotone.

"Sorry, I'm late, I just had a lot going on." the person on the other line spoke.

"Oh, no worries, darling." said Mrs Malfoy, gently. "The plan is going smoothly, from up here."

"My wife has been very convincing, I reckon." Mr Malfoy intervened.

"Yes, I know, I was there during her meeting with them." The voice in the fire said. "I do think that Potter has begun to suspect something is fishy with you, Mrs Malfoy."

"Mmm." Narcissa said, thoughtfully. "Harry should be a legilimens, he really is good at reading through people."

"Such characteristic makes him incredibly odious." Lucius spat with a disgusted expression.

"Well, with no further do, give us your first update of the day, son." Narcissa ordered to the head in the fire.

"Ok, so..." the male voice said, the face it belonged to sighed. "Last night they slept in the same room, like every night. Nothing new. They've just spent the whole of breakfast time analyzing their talk with you, ma'am. Nothing too relevant for the time being."

"Excellent, boy. We'll talk this evening again." said Lucius.

"Thank you for your services, really. Your information is crucial for the fulfillment of our plan." Narcissa said, beaming.

"Alright, see you later, Mr and Mrs Malfoy." Said the talking head before disappearing completely.

When the guest left, Mr Malfoy turned his attention to his wife.

"Dear, are you sure we can invest our total trust into him?" he asked her, apparently not convinced of his loyalty.

"Oh, given his situation, I'm positive that he will not fail us, my sweet." Narcissa guaranteed.

"I do hope you're right. Now, about our plot, is it sensible for me to act after you do?" Lucius questioned.

His wife summoned another armchair and proceeded to sit next to him, her legs crossed.

"Yes, it is. I am the one he trusts, now, aren't I? It only makes sense for me to make the first move." the woman explained.

Her husband nodded his head in approval.

"You will see," Narcissa went on, confident. "we will get our son back, this time. He won't have a choice."

The two last year couples spent their afternoon trying to study in the library, as their top spot was occupied, this time, by Blaise and his posse.

Given their unfriendliness, they decided it would be more reasonable to stray from those people.

Luna and Ginny, however, had decided to spend their day differently.

The had upcoming exams, too, but theirs were simple, routine ones, so they thought it wouldn't hurt them to lighten the load a little.

Their idea was to go for a leisure flight in the Quidditch pitch.

That day, said spot was free as most of the players of each team were busy revising.

Luna had only flown from time to time, like for the lessons with Madam Hooch or during Christmas time in the Weasley household, but she wouldn't do it that often.

Hence, Ginny thought it was only a good idea to teach her girlfriend how to fly properly.

The redhead was wearing her Quidditch training uniform, while Luna sported her "anti-nargle" vest, as she put it.

It was basically an old decorative armour remodeled for the girl's physique. It covered her whole body except for her torso and Ginny thought it was perfect for their activity.

The two girls made a bet on their outdoor fun for the day; if Ginny succeeded in making Luna a perfect flier, they would have gone to see the European Cup that summer, if the Ravenclaw had not learned anything they would have gone to the Nargle convention, instead.

Ginny was determined to win, as she was hoping to see her favourite team ever, the Hollyhead Harpies, compete against the Quiberon Quafflepunchers.

When they arrived at the pitch, they positioned themselves on their brooms. Ginny mounted her Cleansweep Eleven, while Luna had to use one of the school brooms.

"So, Madam Hooch taught you how to mount and how to take flight, with the occasional trick. I'm here to show you how to do these things combined and perfectly. I noticed that, during our Christmas Quidditch friendly match, you were good at taking flight, but not at maintaining yourself in balance. " Ginny explained, her voice sounding like it belonged to an expert.

The girl was very proud of her flying abilities and she wasn't afraid to show it.

"Yeah, so, how can I fix this, babe?" asked a struggling Luna, who was struggling with keeping the broom still.

"Now, you grip the stick firmly, like so..." said Ginny, holding onto the broomstick like she said she had to. Luna's hands almost slipped from them.

"Oh, no, you'll fall from the sky, like this. Here," the redhead corrected, placing her own hands on the other girl's and moving Luna's in the right fashion.

"I like it when you hold my hands like this. Also, your body is so close to mine and I love it." Luna purred.

No matter how often Ginny heard her girlfriend's compliments, she would always blush at them.

"I like it, too, but I need you to focus on the broom." she giggled.

"But you're, like, a thousand times more interesting than this piece of wood." Luna chanted.

"Just focus, ok?" Ginny instructed. "Or I will think that you're failing this class on purpose just to win your ticket to the convention, am I right?"

The Ravenclaw rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I also want a reward later."

"Depends." Ginny teased. then she went back to her own broom.

"Now, when you soar, your first thought must be balance." the Gryffindor said, rising up in the air. "Just concentrate on a fixed point in the air. Watch." that said, she sped towards one of the rings, looking right ahead of her, not daring to shift her glance.

Concentrating wasn't Luna's most important skill. She was terrible at it, most of the times.

But the thought of receiving a reward from her girlfriend, even if it meant to say goodbye to the Nargle event, pushed her forward.

She stared at where Ginny was now floating, then she reached her at ease.

"Woo!" Ginny whooped. "You did it! Now, watch me as I do a series of loops."

In no time, the girl was already making eights in the sky at a moderate speed.

Those tricks looked extremely hard for Luna, who usually never did them.

After taking a deep breath, she tried to make swirls in the blue, but they didn't come out as beautiful as her girl's.

"Yay, that's awesome! " Ginny cheered, clapping her hands. "Well, I'd say my work here is done! And, since we were able to make this miracle, I guess I win the Hollyhead Harpies."

Luna pretended to be upset, but she was actually very happy for that.

The truth was that she wasn't that bad at flying herself - when in Ginny's backyard, she pretended to be terrible at things just to get her attention.

Now, she knew that Ginny was going to 'make impossible happen' because she already knew how to do these things - at least, partly.

It was just too precious to see her girlfriend so happy and thrilled about going to see her beloved team play and this happiness was a consequence of Luna's actions.

When they landed back on the ground, Ginny planted a kiss on the other girl's lips.

Luna sighed contentedly when they parted. "Is this the whole of the reward?" she asked, acting disappointed.

Ginny shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. "No, silly. But it's something that I can't give you out here."  
 _ **A/N: yeah, I know, not much drarry in this episode. But I pinky swear that next chapters will make up for it, my loves.**_


	25. Farewell, Hogwarts

As the last remaining weeks of Hogwarts life passed, Hermione's secret was kept safe among her friends. Ron had no idea about it and resigned from looking more into his girlfriend's strange behaviour- he simply blamed it on school matters- or, at least, so it seemed.

The NEWTs hit the four graduates like a tidal wave. It was a week from hell.

In the days prior to them Hermione didn't sleep much, too busy revising herself to death.

Draco and Harry's alone time was mostly dedicated to mock tests and quizzes.

Even Draco's birthday was celebrated quietly and quickly -however, Harry promised to do something special in the Summer to make up for it.

When the exams were finally over, no one really knew if they had passed- well, except for Hermione- but still, they were immensely relieved that it was finally over.

But, every rose had its thorn.

The end of the difficult exams meant that soon it would be time to leave Hogwarts permanently.

The last day of school an outbreak of sadness spread throughout the people attending their final year.

Harry's gloom was so much that he was able to make it rain on himself temporarily.

"I can't believe this is our last day." he sighed after drying his hair with a movement of his wand.

He and his friends were in the Gryffindor common room, sitting on sofas, their trunks standing next to them, ready to go.

Draco and Luna weren't there; they were in their respective Common Rooms, preparing for the imminent detachment.

"Speak for yourself! Luna and I have one more year!" Ginny pouted. She wanted everyone to think that she wasn't in love with the idea of spending yet another year in that school, but the truth was that she was happy to come back in September. However, it would still hurt to study under the big tree without the gleeful company of her friends and her brother.

"Can we trade, Ginny?" Harry joked, although there was nothing playful in his voice. He would have given anything just to spend another year in the place he called home.

"I'm Ok with it. I feel bad for the girls." said Ron, shrugging.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Why must you always be so insensitive, Ronald? We have so many memories here!" She scolded.

Ron had to admit that his girlfriend had a point.

When he'd first set foot in Hogwarts, around eight years before, he was delighted to begin this new adventure. He'd had fun, during his first year. He'd met his best friends for life and had finally been able to experience the things that his brothers spoke so fondly of. He had also risked his life a couple times, once with a three-headed dog, once with a Devil's Snare... and his experience with Norbert wasn't too jolly. But, in the end, it had been an adventure.

His second year hadn't been too fun - he'd almost lost his sister- but he'd still managed to create indelible memories with the two most important people in his life.

His favourite moment had been when, in his fifth year, he'd become the Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

Every year had left him something permanent, even the year prior to his last- he had helped save the world and finally found the courage to make a go on the girl that he'd liked for years.

He would have missed that school.

"You're right! I will miss Hogwarts!" he lamented, his eyes beginning to water.

What Hermione would have missed the most were the classes.

She would have remembered them very fondly - except for, maybe, her third year ones with Trelawney.

It had felt so good and satisfying to excel in almost every subject each year, to always be the one speaking during lessons, to be the brightest witch of her age...

Finding love and friendship had also been a very important part of her life in that castle.

With one last tear filled look at the cosy Common Room, which enclosed significant memories itself, the four friends left to go meet the rest of the school in the Great Hall. It was time for the leaving feast, but none of them, with the exception of Ginny, was excited for it.

That year, in addition to it, the Headmistress had organised a Graduation Speech, which meant that the Prefects from each House had to speak in regarding of their experience in Hogwarts.

* * *

When Harry set foot in the Great Hall, the first thing he did was run to his fiancé, who was already standing there next to Luna.

He wrapped him into a tight hug and cried freely in his arms.

"Hey, baby, it's Ok! You can still visit the school, once in a while, it doesn't mean you will never see it again." Draco cooed, caressing Harry's back gently.

But Draco couldn't understand. That castle didn't have the same sentimental value for him as it did for Harry.

It had been Harry's one true home.

"It begins!" said Luna, calling to the boys' attention. The House Cup winner would have been revealed.

The two lovers pulled away as they had to sit at their House table for the announcement.

Not that Harry cared about it, of course.

When Professor McGonagall pronounced the word " _Hufflepuff!"_ no one in their last year seemed to give her a shred of attention.

Ginny clapped her hands, smiling, although she was a bit bummed that Gryffindor had ended up in the third place. At least, it wasn't the worst one.

However, Luna didn't seem to mind that her House was in fourth place.

"Attention, everyone!" The Headmistress shouted, getting up from her seat, her palms up. "As you know, next year most of you will be coming back within these walls, but for some of our students today is a very melancholic day. With great honour, I present you our Seventh-years valedictorians! First one to start, miss Hermione Granger" She gave a rigorous applause.  
Everyone followed suit.

Hermione confidently walked towards the Head Table and shook the professor's hand when she reached her destination.

She then turned around to face her fellow schoolmates and took a breath.

"Hello, everyone." she said, taking out a small piece of parchment from her pockets. She began reading shortly after. "Firstly, I feel I'm obliged to thank our Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, who made this school livable again. Also, she has been a very important figure for me among teachers. Secondly, I must thank our fallen professors, Dumbledore and Snape, whose sacrifice will not be forgotten. But mostly, I have to thank the school itself for giving a young Hermione Granger a chance to study its wonderful subjects!" When she was done talking, she had to wipe several tears. Professor McGonagall was in the same situation. Hermione's words had moved her to an extent.

The whole room cheered for the brunette, Ron in particular, as he gave her a standing ovation.

"Thank you, Miss Granger!" said the Headmistress.

When Hermione went back to her seat, her boyfriend complimented her and then kissed her softly on the lips.

It was now Draco's turn to speak, him being the Slytherin Prefect.

His house mates didn't consider him much, only a few of them clapped their hands lazily.

But Draco was past that, such behaviour wouldn't bother him anymore.

He simply went to where his friend had been seconds before.

"Go, babe!" Harry shouted from his seat.

His fiancé's intervention was what it took to make him smile and forget about his anxiety for public speaking.

His presence in the crowd and his support warmed his heart greatly.

"Hogwarts, what could I say..." he started, unscripted. "I used to hate you. I didn't like your ideals or your methods, but it was only me following my dad's doctrine. In this last year, you became my family. " He looked over to Harry when he said that.

That boy had completely changed his views regarding the school. Maybe it was the simple fact of him being there that was able to turn it into a pleasant experience.

"Here is where an eleven-year-old Draco entered as a spoiled brat and where he left as an enriched person, thanks to some amazing people. Thank you Hogwarts!"

Looking in the distance, he saw his younger self bullying people and being downright terrible. Suddenly that image faded, he now saw himself going through his change of heart, going against his patronizing father and his views.

His Gryffindor friends plus Luna all gave him loving looks as they clapped their hands for him, while Harry, who had been giving him a proud look for the whole duration of his speech, whooped for him, on his feet, completely shameless. Some people were giving him looks, but he didn't seem to be bugged by them.

Draco took a bow, then he sped towards where his fiancé was standing.

"Aren't you my biggest fan!" he giggled while cupping his lover's face with his hands.

"I'm just so proud of you!" Harry sighed contentedly.

And Draco had to admit that a proud Harry was too cute to handle.

Plus, Harry's excitement upon seeing the love of his life speak highly of his favourite place in the world had momentarily distracted him from his sadness.

The Slytherin shook his head lightly, then he brought their foreheads together. "You are too adorable." he whispered, then he captured the Gryffindor's lips with his own, engaging into a soft kiss.

No one was triggered by their public display of affection, not even the Slytherins.

They had made history in Hogwarts, not only by being the first openly gay couple in school, but also by opening people's minds.  
"You know, babe." Harry began, after breaking the kiss. "There are many things about Hogwarts that I liked, but my favourite part of it was definitely you."  
Draco wondered if it could be possible to love that boy more than he did in that moment.  
"I taunted you for years." He responded, looking down.  
"Yeah, you did, but that's in the past. Don't bring this up again, Ok? This doesn't change the fact that you're the best part of Hogwarts. You beat classes and adventures by far." Said Harry in a stern voice.  
Yes, it was definitely possible to love him more than Draco did a minute before.  
"You are my favourite thing about Hogwarts, too." The blond declared. There was nothing truer than that, he was sure of it.

Harry didn't mind not giving his own speech - it would have ended up with him bawling his eyes out, not being able to finish it.

After Draco, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Seventh-years spoke as well, until the last one to speak was Ron.

The Weasley boy looked quite nervous. Harry could relate to his state, not long before he had felt that way. When proposing to Draco, to be exact.

"Hi, everyone..." the redhead awkwardly waved his hand, then he put it back down, wiping it on his robe. "Hogwarts is where I met my best friends, but also where I met my one true love. Well, I didn't know that when I met her, but, with time, after many fights and tears, we fell in love. Here is also where we _conceived a child_..."

Hermione's mouth dropped when she heard those words. How had Ron found out about that?

She wondered if it was Luna or any other of her friends.

Many people gasped. Hermione was now at the center of the attention.

She didn't know how to react, although the fact that her boyfriend was calling her his 'one true love' couldn't be a bad sign.

"Lastly, this school is where I ask her to marry me." Ron finished, then he got down on one knee and showed a ring box to Hermione.

The girl covered her mouth with her hands, unable to say a word.

Who knew Ronald Weasley could be happy with having a baby? He was full of surprises sometimes.

Hermione had never cried this hard out of happiness in her whole life before.

Her sobs made her whole body shake and she couldn't control her smile from making her face cramp.

When she finally spoke again, she managed to get out a broken "yes!"

The room exploded with applause as the two of them shared a kiss.

Ginny and Luna were crying while holding each other, relieved that their friend's pregnancy had not been a disgrace, after all.

Harry and Draco cheered, anyway, even though they felt that Ron had been inspired by their engagement.

Not long after the proposal, it was time to say goodbye to Hogwarts.

* * *

While on the train platform, Ron revealed how he had received knowledge of his girlfriend's pregnancy.

When Hermione had told him to go to the library, he hadn't done that right away. He had simply stayed hidden behind the door, using one of George's Extendable Ears.

He knew that something greater than stress cause by exams had to be behind his lover's strange behaviour.

Doing so, he'd heard Hermione confess that she was pregnant.

He had been slightly shocked because of it, but he had chosen not to tell anyone that he knew about it.

He could say that he was ecstatic at the idea of being a father and wondered how it was that his girlfriend's friends didn't think he would have had that reaction.

In fact, only a few days later, he had something planned out.

He had George send him his grandmother's engagement ring by owl post and waited for the Ceremony to ask Hermione to marry him.

Harry's proposal to Draco had played a part in his decision.

Hermione learned a valuable lesson that day, she should have never doubted Ron's love for her.

"How is it that everyone here is getting married?" Luna observed.

Her girlfriend turned to her, smirking. As she opened her mouth to speak, Luna shut her up. "Oh, no, don't look at me. I want to marry you but we need to finish school first. I don't want to be too vulnerable for the Nargle attacks."

Ginny couldn't help laughing out loud at that. "I was just going to say that there's something in the air that made our boys go crazy. All jokes aside, I'm so happy for you, bro and sis!" she said, addressing her brother and his now fiancée. She then hugged them both tightly.

Hagrid was the one to interrupt the sweet moment. "Sorreh to interrupt yeh, but it's time ter go." He said, placing his enormous hand on both Hermione and Ron's shoulders.

"Can you give us a minute, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Ok, Harry. But only one minute." The half giant nodded, then he left to say goodbye to some other students.

"Guys, I will miss this school so much! I will miss seeing you every day!" The green eyed boy said, throwing himself at his best friends, who had pulled away from Ginny.  
"And congratulations guys! Even if you're copycats!" He concluded, playfully.  
"Oh, we will never study under the big tree again!" Draco intervened, joining the group hug.  
"Oh Ron, how am I going to live without seeing you eat like a pig every day?"  
"Oh, Draco, how will I manage without your snarky comments?" Ron responded.  
Draco broke the embrace to give Hermione a single hug, since he had been between Harry and Ron.  
"I love you, Draco!" Hermione cried out while holding him.  
When school had started eight years prior to that moment, the two friends never would have thought that their goodbye would be tearful. If anything, Hermione had always thought it would be relief.  
But there she was, telling him she loved him.  
And Draco, who had called her a mudblood many times, could say that the feeling was mutual.  
That girl wasn't so bad, not one bit, once you got to know her.  
"I love you, too, Mione." He whispered.  
"Such melodrama!" Said Luna, rolling her eyes at the ugly crying fest.  
"Next year you'll understand!" Said Harry.  
"But guys, come on, don't be this sad. Once out of here, we'll spend the whole summer together at our house!" Ginny whined, pointing at herself and her brother.

"I know, but it won't be the same! We have so many memories here, together!" Harry said, his voice still broken from crying.  
"Come on, e'ryone! It's time ter go now, for real!" Hagrid's booming voice called.  
"How can I not cry now?" The big man said, sniffling. "C'mere!" He pulled everyone in a bone crushing hug, including Draco, who could hardly believe what was happening. He had _sued_ that man five years before and had criticised his work as a teacher on many occasions. He must have been very kind-hearted.  
"Bye, Hagrid, we will miss you dearly." Said Hermione, through her tears.  
"I love you, Hagrid, it's been nice to see have you as a friend here. I'm sure I'll see you again many more times!" Said Harry, tightening his grip on his good friend.  
Without him, Harry never would have known a world as mesmerizing as Hogwarts.  
He could never thank him enough for all he had done for him and he would miss him in an indescribable way.  
He would have seen him soon, though, he knew it.  
"Oh I hate these moments!" Ron cried as a teardrop as big as a ball fell on his head.  
Then Hagrid pulled away, not looking at his young friends to avoid getting them entirely wet with his extra large tears.  
Harry stood for a moment and looked at the place that had been his home for many years.  
From there, the castle looked so massive, so magical.  
He would have missed it so much. It was where he'd truly begun to live.  
He had a very special bond with the place, even if his times there had not all been peaches and dandelions. He couldn't remember how many times he had risked death, together with breaking rules and being almost expelled.  
But he would miss those moments, too.  
Obviously, the good times prevailed.  
He had met the love of his life there, after all, and on his last year- his first and only 'calm year' at Hogwarts.  
When he got on the train, he gave one last glance at the castle.  
His fiancé's firm hand on his shoulder indicated for him to move quickly, so he whispered underneath his breath,  
"Farewell, Hogwarts."


	26. The European Cup

June train rides to King's Cross were never really a fun adventure for Harry and his gang, but this time it was particularly hard.

Harry spent most of the journey crying and feeling utterly upset.

Even bidding farewell to the rest of his roommates didn't turn out to be an easy task.

Out of the four pairs of eyes, none was dry when the boys formed a group hug.

Seamus and Dean wouldn't stop thanking him for all the good times and for giving them the strength to be themselves. Neville was the saddest to let Harry go, it seemed.

"I will never forget you, Harry Potter. You've been a hero to me and reason why now I believe in myself." When he said that, Harry wasn't able to suppress a sob.

Luckily, the pain of leaving Hogwarts was mitigated by the stay at the Weasleys' for the Summer.

Cohabitation in the Burrow felt completely right as it always had, but , that Summer, it was especially blissful.

The three couples were all granted separate rooms, so Harry could sleep in the same bed as his future husband without any unwanted guests-especially Percy- and the news of the double wedding infected the whole household with a spread of high spirits.

Mr and Mrs Weasly hadn't been informed about the true reason behind their son's engagement to Hermione, so they just thought that it was Ron's way to settle down and take things seriously.

Harry knew, though, that it would have been impossible for them to be completely clueless, since the whole school knew about it.

Bill and Fleur came to visit one weekend, while George and Angelina stopped by for a day to announce the woman's pregnancy.

Molly was euphoric about becoming a grandma. What she didn't know, though, was that she would be a grandmother of two, not one.

Charlie only sent letters from Romania as he was too busy with dragons and such.

* * *

The first month and a half was spent calmly, in a routine of comfort and games.  
There was a Weasley Quidditch Battle, as Harry's birthday request, on July 31st, which was won by Draco.  
For once, he had beaten Harry at something.  
"How dare you? On my birthday!" The Green eyed boy scoffed when the match was over and Draco flaunted his prize - a homemade cookie- for everyone to see.  
"What? I couldn't let you win on purpose!" Draco put his hands up defensively.  
With a mischievous look, Harry snatched the cookie from his lover's hand with his mouth and munched on it right away.  
Draco's jaw stayed dropped for the whole time it took Harry to eat the baked treat.  
"This is so ethically wrong! I wonder how you will be able to sleep at night, after this disgrace!" Draco yelled, acting like he was outraged, then the chase began.  
Their four friends cheered for the two of them as they both ran through the field, all while laughing hysterically.  
Draco ended up tackling his fiancè to the ground.  
"You little shit, I will end you!" he said menacingly.  
Harry kissed him in response.  
That was what it took for Draco to forgive him.

* * *

On August 10th the six friends had to leave the house to go to France for the European Quidditch Cup, which would have taken place the day after, on Ginny's birthday.

It was a gift from Luna to her girlfriend since she had won the bet.

The other four were also invited, so it was a great way to celebrate Draco's birthday as well, given it had been impossible to do it in the NEWTs week.

And, besides, the Quiberon Quafflepunchers had always been Draco's guilty pleasure.

Also, they had to go to France anyway, since the wedding would have taken place in Paris, only two weeks later.

They would have had to stay in a place that sounded like the Leaky Cauldron, only French, _Le Chaudron De La Sorcière._

Due to the fact that Hermione was with child the three couples had to get there the muggle way, which was by airplane.

Arthur drove them to the Heathrow airport, from there they flew to Nantes, home of the Tournament.

The plane trip had been terrible for its first timers, who were everyone but Hermione.

Draco had almost thrown up when the aircraft had taken off and he had been scared out of his mind with the turbulences and the fact that he had never been this high in the sky, not even in the Quidditch Pitch.

Luckily, he had Harry's hand to hold throughout the whole journey.

Luna had spent the whole flight with her face on her girlfriend's shoulder, babbling that at their height they could have been attacked by Flying Cramplehorned Snorkacks.

Ginny's hearing had been temporarily lessened, Hermione had told her that it would pass, but still, she'd had a mild panic attack.

Ron, however, had got it worse than anyone else.

"I am never taking an airplane again!" he grumbled as he got out of the bathroom in the Nantes Airport. He had just been sick there.

Luna, Ginny, Harry and Draco were all sitting on top of their trunks, trying to recover from their traumatizing experience.

"Come on, don't whine! We have to go, our ride is expecting us!" said a chirpy Hermione, getting up from her seat and leading the way out of the building.

Their ride was the French version of the knight bus, the _Magicobus,_ which took them to _Le Chaudron de la Sorcière._

The place looked very similar to the Leaky Cauldron, however, it didn't have that same vibe.

The rooms looked pretty tidy and there was no dust in them, they were also very bright and the home decor was impeccable.

The pillows looked weird, though, as they were square.

The next day, they took the Magicobus again to reach the stadium.

It was located near a deserted beach. It was concealed from Muggle eyes with a disillusionment charm, as the stadium would been to big to hide.

There were so many excited people that it was almost impossible not to get lost in the screaming crowd. Not to mention, it contributed to the August heat's worsening.

The six friends had VIP passes, which meant that they could meet with the players after the game. Also, two gadgets per person were included.

Draco got himself a hot pink banner for his team, while Harry got a green Hollyhead Harpies pin.

They both got Omnioculars.

The two girlfriends were both fans of the Welsh team, so they picked matching hats and Omioculars.

Ron and Hermione, too, dug in the Omnioculars. They also got HH pins.

When they reached the Stadium, a witch muttered something in French, showing them the way to their VIP seats.

The arena was significantly smaller than the one they had seen in the World Cup, but it still looked colossal.

It held roughly fifty thousand people inside.

When they arrived in their first class seats, Ginny could barely hold her excitement. She felt happiness take over her, as she jumped around squealing.

Her blouse fluttered as she did so. That earned her a glare from Luna, as she had risked exposing her body.

The gallery soon became packed with wizards and witches of all ages.

A woman, who must have been the French Minister, was sitting next to a flamboyant looking man, who was dressed in a purple suit. He had a fuchsia feather boa around his neck-everyone identified him as head of Magical Games.

Draco sat next to Harry. They were both very ecstatic and couldn't wait for the game to start.

Draco, in particular, was looking forward to seeing his most beloved team play. He hadn't seen them in a while, so he didn't know who was in the team. He was excited to see who would play and if they were able to beat the former players.

When the flamboyant man shouted " _Sonorus_! _"_ Draco and Ginny squealed loudly _,_ looking at each other _._

Luna was happy, too, and she showed her emotions by twirling around.

The man spoke in English, since half the spectators didn't know French well.

"I welcome you to the semifinal of ze Quidditch European Cup of 1999!"

The crowd roared so loudly that it was impossible for the group to hear what their friends were saying.

The European Cup didn't have the show of Mascots, but there was a presentation of the team members.

The two teams flew to the center of the field, the visual effect was mesmerizing as their colours merged, creating a flash of pink and green light.

"On our left we have ze Hollyheard Harpies!" the head of the Magical games shouted, pointing his hand at the Welsh team.

"Captain and beater Gwenog Jones!"

Ginny screamed upon hearing her name. "Go, Gwen!" she yelled, then she laughed for the enormous amount of happiness that her presence gave her.

Luna's heart was warmed at the sight of her cheerful girlfriend. This was definitely more worth it that taking her to the Nargle Convention.

"Morgan! Griffin! Ambers! June! Conrad and, last but not ze least, Seeker Thompson!"

Ginny continued her screams of joy. "Stella Thompson is a terrific seeker! She's my second favourite player!"

Ron, too, cheered for the team, accompanied by a clapping Hermione.

"And now, our team, we are proud to present you...the Quiberon Quafflepunchers!"

Draco's yell was louder than Ginny's. He was fangirling, to say the least.

He waved his banner frantically.

Harry couldn't help giggling at that.

"Should I worry about them stealing my man?" he joked, but Draco couldn't hear him.

"Captain and Seeker Adrian Martin!" the man bowed as he said that name.

"Laurent! Fabron! Segal! Deschamps! Travers! Brun!"

From a distance, the French Seeker didn't look familiar, but, with the touch of the Omnioculars he most certainly did.

Adrian Martin had dark hair, a pointy nose and a large jaw. His protective specs covered his face but they didn't completely hide it. Draco and Harry recognized him right away.

"Jean Jacques?" the couple said in unison when they looked away from the devices in their hands, their jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

"Is that Pansy again?" Harry spat, worried that the girl had done it again.

"Oh, impossible, Pansy cannot use magic, not anymore. That must be the original Jean Jacques. He's the guy that she cloned." Hermione added in her clever tone.

Pansy must have thought that the guy was just a random muggle, but, turned out, he was a Quidditch player, disguised as a foreign exchange student. He was probably just exploring the muggle world, just like the gang had done for Easter.

Draco was slightly annoyed at the sight of that person, he looked exactly like his former room mate from hell.

Harry, too, was triggered by his presence.

"Come on, guys, don't let this spoil the fun!" Luna intervened. "He's not the guy you think he is."

Luna had a point, the two decided to not let that ruin their excitement.

But, boy, was that hard.

The rest of the match was breathtaking. Gwenog Jones was a wonderful beater, she never missed a Bludger. Her seeker, Stella, was also pretty amazing, Harry observed.

He had played many games before, but he had never seen such a skilled seeker.

He had to admit that she was even better than himself.

He considered himself lucky to be able to talk to her after the match, he would have totally asked for advice.

Ginny would replay every move that her idol made, wishing that, one day, she would play alongside her.

She kept repeating "Best Birthday Ever!" as she did so.

Luna felt a bit jealous at her girlfriend's almost obsession with that Beater.

Additionally, it was strange to see that girl, as, in Ginny's room, a poster of her would often seem to stare at the two girls while they were having intimate moments.

Draco tried to imagine Adrian as someone else, but it didn't work too well. He felt hatred for him, even if the team's fate largely depended on him.

His attention fixed on the other players, he saw that the chasers, Leon Dechamps, Axel Segal and Basile Trevors, were very good and, also, they had a lot of presence in the show.

They were the most eye-catching players, their moves were impeccable and reminded Draco of dancers.

Dechampes was the one who scored the most points.

The Hollyhead Harpies Keeper wasn't really at the most of her forces, by the looks of it, as she was unable to stop the Quaffle from entering the hoops, multiple times.

Ginny frowned at that.

In the end, the Quafflepunchers beat the Harpies by two hundred points, as Jean Jacques' doppelganger caught the snitch.

The French plus Draco all rumbled in joy for their triumph on the other team.

He didn't mind the fact that the person showing off the snitch looked exactly like Jean Jacques anymore.

"We won!" He yelled, then he hugged his fiancè excitedly.

Harry wasn't too pleased with the results, but he still let Draco pick him up and twirl him around.

"Oh, man! The Keeper was probably ill or something! That is not fair, not in the least!" Ginny whined, feeling defeated.

"Oh, come on, honey bee, it was still a great match- my favourite part was when the seeker flew in that way you taught me!" Luna chirped.

"Yeah, it was still amazing! Thank you, baby! This was the best birthday ever, and it's all because of you!" said the redhead, then she kissed her girlfriend fiercely.

Luna was the best girlfriend in the world, if anyone thought they had a better girlfriend, they were wrong.

And the birthday would have turned a ton times better in moments. Now that the match was over, it was time to meet the players.

The six friends all descended the stairs, headed for the VIP Tent.

There was a very long line to get to the autograph signing, but the waiting was worth it.

"Oh Merlin, I can't believe I'm about to talk to Gwen!" Ginny squeaked, all while holding her girlfriend's hand. "This is a dream come true!"

Hermione couldn't wait to meet members from both teams, she was most excited about the beaters. Ron had been enchanted by the Keepers, even upon seeing that the Harpies one had not done her best.

Draco had mixed emotions about it. Sure, meeting the players would have been an amazing thing, but the Seeker looked too much like the guy who had almost ruined his relationship with Harry.

"I'm going to act like this Adrian guy had an evil twin." said Harry.

That wasn't a bad idea.

Something like an hour later, it was finally their turn.

Since the visitors were divided in groups of six, all friends were able to enter together.

Ginny timidly walked to her idol. Her heartbeat was very fast and her face was as red as her hair.

She didn't know how she could have prevented herself from jumping on the girl.

"Hi, Oh Merlin, I love you! I'm your biggest fan! I have a poster of you in my room!" Ginny blurted.

Miss Jones flashed her a bright smile. She was sitting at a desk, still in her Quidditch uniform, a quill in her hand.

Her hand was a bit stained with ink from the many signatures she had placed on things.

"Oh, you don't know how honoured I consider myself for that, girl." Gwenog said, sighing contentedly.

Ginny bashfully took off her hat and gave it to her. "If you cold sign this, I'd be happy." she managed to say. "I'm Ginevra Weasley, by the way."

"Sure! To my biggest fan Ginevra, I hope you make it big." Gwengo pronounced the words as she wrote them.

Ginny fought the urge to scream for joy.

"Thank you! Today is my birthday, you've just made it unforgettable!" Ginny squealed, trying to keep her tears from falling, but to no avail.

She was right in front of her favourite Quidditch player ever, she had fantasized about that moment so many times and now, there she was, so unbelievably close to her.

 _Now I can die happily_ , she thought as Gwenog Jones in person got up from her seat to squeeze her into a hug and wish her a happy birthday.

That had just become the best day of her life, hands down.

Harry was engaging in a long conversation with Stella Thompson, she was telling him about some strategies, but he wasn't listening to her that much, he was too busy staring at Adrian Martin, who was talking to his fiancè.

Draco had decided to ignore the fact that the Quiberon Seeker reminded him of someone he hated, so he still went to get his banner signed.

"What's your name?" Adrian asked, completely clueless that Draco was trying not to associate him with a terrible person.  
His voice sounded _exactly_ like Pansy's puppet.  
"Um... Draco." He said, staring at the guy opposite him.  
 _If only he knew what a girl has done with his features,_ Draco thought.  
Maybe he actually knew, if the news of Pansy's craziness had reached the French as well.  
"Ok, to Dracó, hope you reach your goals, Adrian Martin."  
Mr Martin signed the banner. He even added a drawing of himself catching the snitch.  
At least, the way he said _Draco_ was different.  
Adrian Martin's eyes then fixed on a redhead girl who was talking to his opponent.  
Everyone noticed it, even Ron, who had been fangirling over the Harpies Beater signing a piece of parchment.  
"Say, Dracó, can you introduce me to your friend there, a little spicy ginger!" The french guy said, looking captivated.  
He definitely wasn't gay.  
"Hey!" Luna intervened, her nostrils flaring with anger.  
She was a very jealous girlfriend, she had let her hug Gwenog Jones only because she knew she had been wanting to for ages, but this guy was crossing a line.  
"That spicy ginger is my girlfriend, so stay away!" The blonde girl ran from her position, which was in front of a Harpies Chaser, to the French Captain's desk.  
"Wow, lesbiennes? They turn me on ever more." Adrian giggled softly, as he put a hand on Luna's cheek to caress it.  
Harry felt a lot of disgust for that man.  
Pansy had chosen the right person to imitate. Both he and his "alter ego" were insufferable gits.  
Luna pushed that hand away so fast that it hit the wooden surface below it.  
Adrian winced in pain, then he held his injured hand.  
Everyone looked at Luna, even the players. She didn't look like it, but she was very strong.  
Ginny stopped her girlfriend from taking her wand. "Baby, it's fine, let's just go. He's not worth getting in trouble for."  
There were two aurors for bodyguards and they both glared at Luna intensely.  
When the three couples exited the tent, they well all astonished that no one had said anything about the French Seeker's attempt at molesting girls.  
"He was vile!" Said Hermione, feeling utterly disgusted. "Just like his look-alike."  
"All molesting types." Said Draco, shaking his head in disbelief.  
"I wonder how it is that he didn't touch Pansy at the hair salon."  
"Luna, sweetums, really, you shouldn't have done that to him. Sure, he was an asshole and I wanted to kill him for touching your face like that, but you could have been arrested!" Ginny scolded as she pulled on her girlfriend's arm.  
The other girl was still livid with rage.  
"He deserved it! He called you a spicy ginger, only I can call you that!" Luna snorted.  
If Ginny hadn't stopped her, she would have broken that guy in two.  
The redhead sighed softly. Her girlfriend's act had actually made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She felt protected by her.  
"Lucky I have this dame to save me!" She said dramatically, putting her arms around her neck.  
"I will save you forever!" Luna exclaimed, finally dropping her anger.  
"I love you more than anything!" Ginny gave her girlfriend yet another kiss.  
"Aw!" Their four friends said at the same time.  
Once again, that couple had proven themselves as the cutest.


	27. Promise This

The European Cup had contributed to making Draco's late birthday celebration almost as good as Ginny's, despite Adrian Martin.

In the days that followed it, he couldn't help feeling a mixture of excitement and terror, as the Big Day was getting closer and closer.

The organisation of the ceremony was carried out by the Weasleys and it was meant to be a surprise, so no one among them -except for Ginny and Luna- knew what it was going to be like.

It had been George's idea, as he felt that the surprise effect would have been better for the future bride and grooms.

The Grangers had been informed, too.

It being a mixed wedding, meaning that muggles, too, would be attending, there couldn't be too many magic tricks and it had to be in a muggle location, in order for all the guests to reach the place.

Wizards and witches attending could travel there by Floo Powder or disapparation, as they would end up in a close by room. which was protected by a disillusionment charm.

Only the ones who knew the whereabouts of the venue could use those methods.

If anything weird had happened, the non magical attendants' memories would have been wiped out.

Also, the muggle location was the best choice to avoid unwanted press.

Narcissa Malfoy had complained about that decision, but accepted to go anyway, as it was her son's wedding.

Harry wasn't exactly convinced with her behaviour. Narcissa Malfoy going to a semi-muggle wedding? Making this effort for Draco?

Something felt fishy about it.

On August 28th, after weeks spent going to beaches and local pubs, it was time to take the train to Paris, where the wedding would have taken place on that same day.

Once in Paris, the couples were split in two groups, so that they could get ready.

Ginny took Hermione and Draco to a hotel room, where their outfits were waiting for them.

The redhead was supposed to be there as a supervisor, making sure that everything would have gone by smoothly.

The room was definitely luxurious, it had a king-sized bed with white sheets embroidered with "just married", next to it was a heart shaped jacuzzi with red candles placed on its borders.

It was a honeymoon suite, but Ginny didn't reveal which couple would have slept there on their first night as spouses.

The whole room smelled like a combination of jasmine and lavender fragrances, evoking a calming effect on the people who entered it.

Its rosy tones made Hermione wish that it would end up being her and Ron's suite.

Draco wasn't too in love with its looks, but it was still pretty beautiful.

The white dress, Ginny's maid of honour gown and Draco's suit were all carefully laid on the bed.

Hermione had chosen to wear her mother's wedding dress, however she wanted some changes made to it - all of which Molly took care of.

It still had its original vintage vibe, but Molly had applied lacy decorations over the old layers of tulle and organza. She'd modified the top, breaking the round neck part into a V-neckline, and added beads to the ball gown skirt for shimmer.

Draco would be wearing a dark green suit, which symbolised both him having been a Slytherin and his future husband's eye colour.

Ginny's dress was the same that she had worn for George and Angelina's wedding.

The two girls got changed in the bedroom, while Draco went into the even fancier bathroom.

Ginny decided to leave her hair straight, with a braid that encircled her head like a headband.

She didn't take too long to get into her dress, however, fitting Hermione into her gown wasn't as easy as she'd hoped, given the many layers and the zip in the back.

She also helped her with her hair situation. Luckily, Molly had brought her straightening potion, so it wasn't too much of a nightmare.

Once Hermione's bushy hair was straight, Ginny tied it into a bun and added a flower hairpin in the middle of it.

This was when the bride to be became panicky.

"Oh God, this feels so real, now. What if Ron leaves me after the baby is born?" She said, biting her nails nervously.

"What if Harry divorces me right away?" Said Draco, his head poking from the bathroom.

"Guys, please, don't worry! Everything will be fine, I know!" said Ginny. "Mione... Ron can't wait to marry you! And mum says you're perfect for him!" she looked at Hermione through the mirror, as she was standing behind her.

Suddenly, a smile was painted on the brunette's lips. "This calms me down a little." she said.

Ginny smiled back at her, then she turned to Draco. "And Draco, when Harry is with you... he's literally the happiest man in the world. The way he looks at you... He's so in love with you, I don't think it's even remotely possible for him to want to divorce you."

Those words were even more special to Draco because they were coming from her.

She was Harry's _ex_ and she was telling his husband to be how much he loved him.

If even she saw it, it meant Harry was _really_ in love with him.

"Oh I know." He simply said, grinning. "But what about my mum? What if she doesn't show up?"

"I know for a fact that she is at the venue already, she's the one giving you away to Harry." Ginny informed.

"She is? Oh dear Merlin, this just increases my anxiety!"

In the meantime, Luna had taken Ron and Harry to yet another sumptuous looking honeymoon suite, which similar to the other one, except that it had a green tone and it smelled like lime and ginger.

Harry's suit was maroon, just like Ron's, and they changed into the bedroom, while Luna got ready in the bathroom.

It didn't take Ron a long time to get ready; Harry, on the other hand, was having a hard time with fixing his hair.

"Even with this stupid potion my hair won't look decent!" Harry groaned in frustration.

"Mmm maybe it doesn't stick because it can't make your straight if you're not straight at all." His best friend joked after examining his mop of a head.

Harry glared at him. "You're too funny, Ronald. Ugh, my hair isn't even the worst part of this! I'm going to throw up, I know, I'll fuck up the whole thing and Draco will run away!" he said, sitting on the bed and then putting his head in his hands.

"You think I'm joking because I'm calm? I'm scared shitless, mate!" Ron whined, sitting next to Harry. His face was pale and he kept hyperventilating.

"Hey, guys, are you Ok?" Said Luna while coming out of the bathroom, ready to go.

Her hair was tied in ponytail with multiple bands, each of them 'embellished' with a Butterbeer cap. She was wearing the dress Hermione had worn at George's marriage ceremony, the colour had been changed to green, though.

"Not really! I think I'll be sick!" said Ron, trying to breathe evenly.

"Oh come on! Think of it this way, you're both marrying the love of your life! Aren't you happy for it? You can start a life together, a family... I mean, this should be the best day of your lives!" said Luna, sitting between her two friends.

"I know, Luna, but... what if Hermione is a runaway bride?" Ron said, paranoid.

"Oh, silly Ron." The blonde giggled. "She's in the room next door."

Ron seemed to light up.

"Ok, then... I think we're ready."

Harry and his best friend, Ron, were both waiting at the altar. They were one at its left, the other at its right side.

The secret wedding theme, they found out, wasn't too much of a surprise.

It was a Reception room belonging to the hotel, its walls were white and there were around four marble columns, each of them had a least four balloons tied to it; one was golden, one was red and the last two were green and silver.

It was obvious that they represented Gryffindor and Slytherin merging together.

There were two rows of chairs; the first one, which was on the left, was golden, while the one on the right was silver.

Harry noticed that, above their head, were beautiful colour-changing chandeliers that shifted from red to gold, to green, to silver.

In the crowd were all the Weasleys with their respective partners - except for George, Ron and Ginny - Gabrielle Delacour, Hagrid (who occupied three seats), Xenophilius Lovegood, Hannah Abbott, who was sitting next to Neville, Susan Bones,Laura Granger , the surviving components of The Order Of The Phoenix and many more people who must have been family friends of the Grangers and the Weasleys.

The Dursleys weren't there, Harry noticed, not that he minded too much.

Not much later, the bridesmaids and the groomsmen made their entrance. Ginny and Luna walked inside, happily greeting the guests with one hand, the other one holding a small bouquet.

The maid of honour was Rosemary Granger.

The groomsmen were Seamus and Dean, while the best man was George.

"Oh my, Ron, I'm going to faint." Harry whispered loudly, so that only Ron could hear.

"We're on the same page, if it can make you feel better, mate." Ron whispered back, chuckling nervously.

"I'm so excited! I saw 'em grow up right before me eyes!" Hagrid cried and then blew his nose into his sheet-looking handkerchief.

Molly Weasley, who was sitting next to him, was weeping lightly, although not as badly as when her first son got married. "I'm getting used to this wedding thing, three sons in less than two years!"

"Oh, here they are!" Harry exclaimed to Ron, who jerked his head towards the door.

The first to enter was Hermione, her arms linked with her father's.

She was shaking to an extent, although she tired to keep her smile.

"Hey, love, you're trembling! Don't worry, it will be fine." Donald Granger cooed. "Otherwise you'll harm the baby."

Hermione looked at her dad with widened eyes. " How do you know about it?"

"A father always knows."

Behind them were Draco and his mother, also linking arms.

Harry's breath caught in his throat at the sight of his fiancé. He could have sworn that he had never seen him more attractive than he was in that moment.

All of a sudden, his anxiety died down ad was replaced by overwhelming joy.

"Oh, mother, I feel so excited yet scared!" Draco said to Narcissa, all while trying to steady his shaky breathing.

"Come on, it will be alright, darling." Narcissa reassured.

"I just wish Father was here as well." Draco muttered.

"Oh, me too." his mother replied, looking away from him.

She was the only one in the room from Draco's side.

"Hey..." said Hermione, right after her dad left her at the altar.

"Hi, you're stunning." Ron managed to say, trying to contain a sob.

"Oh, she's so beautiful!" Hermione's mother chanted, holding her husband's hand as he sat next to her.

"Hi, you look breathtaking." said Harry when he saw Draco standing in front of him.

"You're crying already!" Draco whispered loudly, a smile on his face.

"That's your fault!" Harry talked back.

"You're such a pussy." said the blond boy, wiping a tear from Harry's eye.

"Be careful what you say or I will throw you on the ground!" Harry sassily responded.

His comeback brought the two of them back to their "hot discussion", as Hermione called it, from November.

So much had changed in their lives since then, who would have known that ten months later they would be standing in front of each other, ready to tie the knot.

Miss Sivan, who was officiating the unions, cleared her throat.

"We are gathered here for yet another wedding - wow, I must say, this is turning into a trend." the woman joked, earing a laugh from many guests. " On the left here we have Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, while on our right we can admire Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

As she said that, she pointed at the four of them. "Let's begin with the vows, shall we?"

"Hermione Granger," Ron began, while taking his bride's hands into his "When I met you, I thought you were an obnoxious little know-it-all. Like, I really couldn't stand you! But then, years later, I finally realised that I was in love with that know-it-all."

"Harry Potter, from the moment that I saw you, I felt a lot of hatred for you, but that only concealed an enormous crush." Draco commenced, his eyes locked to Harry's.

"... even though you'd find an unabated enjoyment in making me jealous, with Krum..." Ron continued, making Hermione look down.

"...but you'd never get the memo, you fool." Draco went on.

"But, somehow, we ended up together and I'm sure, now, that we are each other's soulmate. Mione, I promise you that I will love you for ever." Ron finished with a throaty sob.

"Harry I promise to love you and cherish you till the day I die. I'm positive that you will do the same. If you won't I might murder you." Draco finished.

Luna gave a hearty laugh. "So romantic!" she murmured to Ginny.

Harry laughed, too. "In your dreams. Um, Draco Malfoy... My life became a thousand times better since you slithered into it." he started with his vows.

"Oh, Ronald, you're so headstrong, sometimes you irritate my nerves!" Hermione dug into her promises. "But I love you, you're the love of my life and I will love until until I take my last breath."

"I promise to for ever beat you in Quidditch, but, mostly, to love you unconditionally for a thousand lives." Harry concluded, laughing with tears in his eyes.

"Oh, shed a tear there!" Miss Sivan commented, wiping a tear. Even that gesture was a graceful movement. "So, without further do, do you, Ronald Weasley, take Hermione Jean Granger as your lawfully wedded wife? While, do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take Harry James Potter as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do!" Draco and Ron said in unison.

"Do you..." The alleged fairy moved on to ask the question to the remaining two.

Narcissa Malfoy looked to her right to catch Neville Longbottom's eye, then she nodded to him.

"It's time." she mouthed. The boy gave a nod of understanding, then he sat up and shouted, " I object!" Everyone in the room looked at him, feeling shocked.

What did Neville have against those couples that he had so dearly stated to love?

Right in that moment, the doors flung open and three people came running.

It was Lucius Malfoy, sided by Blaise Zabini.

"Me too!" Lucius yelled.

"Father?" said Draco, stunned. His eyes widened in terror and his whole body froze at the sight of that man.

"Surprise." Mr Malfoy said in a faux calm tone.

Blaise waved, smirking.

" Get him." Mrs Malfoy ordered sternly, sitting back in her chair and smiling wickedly.


	28. Break Me Down

Before Harry could realise what was going on, his old room mate, fellow DA member and close friend, Neville Longbottom, had already cast Petrificus Totalus on him.

Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Miss Sivan, Mr and Mrs Weasley tried to stop Lucius and his henchmen by firing silent _Stupefys_ , but to no avail. He dodged every shot.

Draco was too shocked to do anything, he didn't even have his wand with him. He cursed himself for having been too muggle-like for his wedding.

Blaise suddenly cast an _impedimenta_ on him. The blond boy hadn't seen it coming as he was kneeling down to where Harry had fallen, trying to wake him up even if he was wandless.

If anyone tried to get close to Mrs Malfoy, they would get petrified or stunned by Neville.

Ginny and Luna ended up being among the petrified.

Hermione and Ron held onto each other as they hid behind the altar.

"Let's hit them from here!" The brunette whispered in a loud tone, poking her head out of the hiding spot to get a glimpse of what was happening.

Half of the guests were unable to move, others would fight.

Flashes of green and red lit up the room, all while shocked muggles didn't know where to turn.

Some of them thought it was an act and that it was part of the show - especially Rosemary Granger, who stood there, watching the scene unravel.

As Hermione was about to pronounce the words to a binding spell, a hand was placed on her mouth to prevent her from speaking.

Her initial reaction was fear, but then she relaxed when she saw that the hand belonged to Fleur.

"Don't do anything, Herrmione." the blonde girl whispered. "No need. You will see, we've got zis underr contrrol."

Hermione nodded, although she found it rather odd that the adults in the picture weren't too aggressive on the intruders.

"I won't let my son marry this scum!" Lucius' voice boomed through the venue. He had the most disgusting expression on his face.

All while Neville and Blaise kept the others busy, he grabbed his immobilised son by an arm and dragged him to his mother.

The woman sat up to touch Draco's face. "Oh, my dear, naive son. Did you really think that I'd be fine with you marrying a man? In a muggle ceremony?" She shook her head, while clicking her tongue.

"Go on, Lucius. Disapparate." Narcissa instructed.

"I'm trying, but I just can't." her husband whined. Try as he might, he wasn't able to flee the scene.

"What do you mean you can't? Let me do that!" Mrs Malfoy shouted, pushing him away to take her son into her arms.

To her surprise, she didn't succeed in it, either.

"Of course, you can not do that." said Professor McGonagall, walking towards the three of them.

A smile sat on her wrinkled face as she spoke.

Narcissa was more confused than she had ever been in her entire life. She jerked her head slightly to see that both Blaise and Neville were being held down by Hagrid.

Someone had reanimated Harry, because he was standing up, giving her the scariest of death stares.

"Did you really think that we weren't prepared for this eventuality?" said Arthur Weasley.

He, too, was smiling.

"What...?" Both the Malfoy spouses said in unison, Narcissa letting go of her son.

"We didn't exactly buy your change of heart, Narcissa..." said the Hogwarts Headmistress.

"So, I told the Ministry of Magic that something like this could take place, therefore they made it impossible to disapparate from here until after the ceremony would be terminated. This is why you're unable to leave." Harry suddenly said.

Draco, who had recovered from the effects of the impediment jinx, stared at him, his mouth dropped.

Harry's paranoias weren't really senseless, after all.

He was right, once again.

Harry's expression was unbelievably serious. His green eyes narrowed and stayed put on the Malfoys, who were listening to him while feeling defeated.

He could read his anger from where he was standing.

He wouldn't dare to meet his gaze, also, which generally wasn't a good sign.

So, Draco thought it would be wiser to just wait until the whole thing would be over.

"Oh and many of the people here who are disguised as muggles are actually Aurors who kindly agreed to supervise the event." Harry continued, raising a smile.

"Lucius Malfoy, wasn't a year in Azkaban enough for you? I'm afraid you will get more for this."

Said an apparent muggle from several seats behind. He quickly reached his target and binded his wrists together with invisible handcuffs.

Another pretend muggle did the same with Blaise and Narcissa.

Neville was left unscathed, though.

"Oh, Mr Longbottom here will not come with us, no. He told us everything. You blackmailed him into spying on his friend and later sabotaging his wedding to avoid his grandmother getting hurt by you." Auror number two said.

Everything made sense, now.

Harry could finally understand why Neville had petrified him. He felt so bad for him, his friend was very easy to manipulate and the Malfoys' cruelty pushed him to do the unthinkable.

He wasn't mad at him, not anymore. When the words "Petrificus Totalus!" had come out of his mouth, he had felt betrayed by him. But now, he could only feel pitiful for him.

After all, his grandma was all he had, he would have done anything to keep her safe.

Even if it meant engaging in criminal activity.

Also, the mystery surrounding the Malfoys knowing everything their son did, even they weren't communicating with him was solved.

Neville would refer his every move to them.

"Draco, you would let these man incarcerate your own mother? Please, tell them I just wanted to look out for you!" Mrs Malfoy pleaded, sounding desperate.

But Draco wasn't going to fall for it, not anymore.

"I'm afraid I can't. You were just about to _kidnap_ me. You are no longer my mother, if you betray me this way."he spat, looking impassive.

Narcissa's eyes widened greatly as she was being taken away to a location of temporary custody.

Draco watched as his parents were forced out of the room, thinking that it would probably be the last time he'd see them. He felt as if they had just died, right in front of him.

They were going to snatch him away to do Merlin knew what to him, so he didn't feel remorse.

Additionally, he didn't break down and cry like he would have done on other occasions, he just stood there.

He turned around to see Neville break into a sob and fall at Harry's feet.

"I'm so sorry, Harry! They threatened me... to kill my grandma if I wouldn't help them with their plan! I never meant to hurt you... oh, man, I should go to Azkaban, too!" the boy said in the grip of his sobs.

"Oh, Neville.. no, you shouldn't." Harry said, bending down to look at him. "What they did to you was atrocious and they will pay for it." he extended his hand for the other boy to hold.

Neville nodded, then he grabbed his friend's hand, as he helped him up.

"It's something many of us would have done to protect the people we love." Harry expressed.

His forgiving abilities were uncanny, Draco observed. His husband to be was usually mistrustful, but, if he valued a person worthy of forgiveness, even if they had done the worst thing one can imagine, he would give it to them.

He would be marrying a truly amazing person.

One by one, all the attendants were woken up and set free from the petrification.

"Wow, that was some show!" Hermione's grandmother squeaked, clapping her hands slightly.

Muggles' memories would have been modified anyway, though, as some of them had actually been jinxed.

"Oh my God, are you alright?" said Hermione, leaving her hiding spot and running to Harry.

"Yeah, I'm Ok, not one scratch." Harry said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Oh Thank God!" Hermione pulled her friend into a tight a hug, then she moved her attention to Draco. "Draco! Are you Ok? Are you hurt?" she cried out in a worried tone, all while taking his face in her hands.

"Yeah, a bit um.. aghast, but I'm fine. All thanks to Harry, I guess." said Draco, smiling at the to other boy, who didn't return the smile, though.

"Oh, Heavens, are all magical weddings like this?" Mrs Granger asked Hagrid.

Her daughter's wedding had turned into a battlefield right before her eyes not many minutes before, it was her right to be completely shaken.

"Oh, this is technically a muggle weddin'. If you had seen a real one in our world, boy, yeh probably woulda fainted from the shock." The half-giant chuckled.

"Oh, babe, you're Ok!" said a stuttering Ginny. She flung her arms around her girlfriend, wrapping her into a firm embrace. "I was so scared that something had happened to you!"

The two girls had been immobile throughout the whole ruckus, lying by each other.

However, Ginny had been unable to look at Luna, so she didn't know whether she had been simply petrified or fatally harmed in the fall.

"Ah, Gin Gin, I'm super fine. I worried about you, too. I feared you were dead and the Gordonds of Death were coming for you!" Luna muttered.

"Oh, I love you!" Ginny whispered, then she kissed her girlfriend with passion.

Both girls were finally relieved that they were fine and that the nightmare was put to and end before anyone got seriously hurt.

"Now," Miss Sivan's voice interrupted. "I say, if everyone is alive and well, that I give you all five minutes to recover from the shock, then, we carry on with this thing."

"Oh, that's our cue. Let's go back to the altar, guys!" said Hermione, letting go of Draco's face. She grabbed her dress and walked towards where Ron was standing. She turned around to motion for her friends to follow her.

But they didn't go right away.

Harry wasn't looking at his lover, not yet. He was not moving and he was merely staring at Hermione while she walked.

Draco felt the tension in the air, it wrapped them both so tight, almost chocking them.

He knew why Harry was acting like that, but he had to put a stop to that as soon as possible.

He had to look at him to marry him.

He took a breath, then he shyly placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Babe, I should have listened to you... I was just fooled by my mother's ways... I should have known it was too good to be-" he began, but the boy with the messy hair interrupted him.

"When will you ever listen to me?" Harry said sternly, turning around to finally face his lover. "Lucky I was suspicious, think of what they could have done to if I hadn't been!"

Draco gulped, feeling guilty. Harry's look contained a strong disappointment and he knew he had caused it.

"I know... I'm sorry..." he replied, looking down at his feet. The look the other boy gave him cut through him so violently that he had to look away, in order not to be burned by that look that he hated. He knew he deserved it, but it still hurt him to an extent.

"They could have wiped out your memory of me! Or... Merlin knows what else!" Harry scolded, worriedly.

Draco set his gaze back on him. His future husband was crying.

"I could have lost you!" The Gryffindor weeped, looking up and swallowing a lump in his throat to keep from bawling.

"But you didn't, I'm right here! Because you were cautious and this saved me." The Slytherin said in a reassuring tone. He cupped Harry's face in his hands and locked his eyes with his. "You saved me. Like you always do. And I can't wait for Miss Sivan to pronounce us married."

Harry's soulmate's words didn't help him in his fight against crying hysterically.

His body trembled as he let out hiccups of broken sobs.

The taller boy pulled him into the most stringent hug they had ever shared, rubbing his back to soothe him.

Harry had calmed him down many times with this method, it only made sense for Draco to return the favour.

"I swear, you will kill me one day. You gave me a massive scare out here. Now, I want to marry you even more than I did before." said Harry, once he recollected himself.

"Then let's go to that altar and let's get the _fuck_ married." Draco said when pulling away.

Only a few minutes later, the two couples were once again standing on opposite sides of the altar, Miss Sivan right in the middle.

"Well, where were we? Ah, I had just asked Mr Ronald Bilius Weasley and Harry James Potter if they agreed to take Miss Hermione, in Ronald's case, and Mr Draco, in Harry's, as their lawfully wedded spouses." The fairy lady picked up from where she had left off.

With a movement of her fingers, she raised a flute in the air and the instrument began playing itself.

An harmonious and soft music pervaded the whole room as four hearts beat faster than those belonging to anyone else in the vicinities.

"I do, more than anything." Harry said in a croaked voice.

"I do." said Ron.

"So, for the power invested in me by the French Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce the people on my left as Husband and Husband and the people on my right as husband as wife."

After exchanging their rings, Ron kissed Hermione and Harry captured his now husband's lips with his own.

This was their best kiss so far, Harry thought. It was sweet, soft, but also full of love. It was their first kiss as a married couple, so it was, by far, their most special one.

He felt their bodies and souls intertwine completely as they became one thing only.

The feelings Draco experienced in that kiss were hard for him to describe. It was their first kiss after the whole disaster of not long before, so it made him feel safe, calm and at home.

His thoughts wandered back to their first kiss ever, under the big tree.

It had been rough, completely emotionless and full of only lust.

It was nothing compared to this new touch.

Ginny and Luna hugged while crying freely.

Their best friends were finally married and that had been too emotional to handle.

Ginny wondered if she would ever marry the girl in her arms.

One day, she would have definitely done that. But, in that moment she felt too young for that big step.

But it didn't mean she never would have felt ready.

Watching their friends confirm, once again, their undying love for each other made her think of her relationship with that blonde girl. She had jumped, head first, into that new thing that she had been afraid of for so long. That had been the best thing she had ever done.

Now she got to call the most amazing girl in the world her girlfriend. Someday, her wife.

All the people in the room applauded and whooped, many of them crying in happiness.

"Me little midgets growin' up so much!"Hagrid's enormous tears almost flooded his seat.

Hermione's parents held hands as their little girl became someone's wife. They had been skeptical at first, regarding her now husband, but, seeing their daughter so happy, they finally accepted their union completely.

There wasn't a single Weasley in the room who had dry eyes, not even Percy.

When Hermione and Ron pulled away, they were both giggling.

When Harry and Draco did that, their eyes exuded pure happiness and excitement.

Draco could barely believe it. They were husbands and they would be for the rest of their lives together. There was nothing that he looked forward to more. Simply growing old with the love of his life was something that he couldn't wait for.

After Hermione threw her bouquet, who Ginny promptly caught, Molly declared it was time to dance.

Before that could happen, though, the brunette felt it was time to make an announcment.

"Before we can all engage into this dance, Ron and I need to tell you something... We're having a baby!" she shouted.

Her parents knew that already, so, of course, they didn't act too surprised. But they were happy to become grandparents so they cheered for her.

"What? Oh, that's marvelous! Grandma of two in only one go!" Molly exclaimed excitedly.

"And I'll be a grandfather! Congratulations!" Arthur added.

Everyone else in the room congratulated the pair, then the dancing officially began.

As Harry held his husband close, he could have sworn that had never known this level of delight in his life before.

It was almost too much to handle.

"I can't believe this! You're my husband!" Draco squealed.

"I can't either! It feels like yesterday that we hated each other..." Harry responded, raising his head to look at the other boy.

While dancing with him, he had kept his head rested on his chest.

"And now, look at us! Married!" The blond boy said excitedly, accentuating the word 'married'.

"The best decision we ever made, my love." Harry mused.

The best decision Draco had made was agreeing to becoming Harry's boyfriend, that had sucked him into a world full of emotion like he had never felt before.

He had completely drowned into him and he didn't want, for anything in the world, to go back to the surface.

 ** _A/N: Second to last chapter, y'all :( so sad that there's only one more, but everything comes to end._**


	29. The End Of All Things

_**A Year Later**_

It was a warm evening in the middle of August. Harry was in his bathroom, getting ready to go out.  
He was shaving the muggle way, as he thought it was easier than the magical way. That was the only good thing that his uncle Vernon had taught him, he reckoned.  
Harry wanted to look perfect for the occasion of the day, so he also proceeded to pluck his eyebrows.  
Auror training had boosted his confidence, so he had become very interested in always looking his best.  
His hair, however, wouldn't collaborate. He wasn't able to tame it, unsurprisingly.  
"One day." He said, pointing his finger at his reflection in the mirror.  
"Are you talking to your hair? Oh, not again! We're late, babe, for goodness sake, hurry!" An annoyed voice said, along with a loud knock on the door.  
Harry rolled his eyes. His husband was always so obsessed with being on time, so much that they would always be early for events.  
"I'm almost ready!" He shouted back.  
"Like hell you are! I mean, why do you even have to lock yourself in?" Draco groaned in frustration.  
"Oh, well, because I always want to surprise you." Harry replied.  
It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes now.  
His beau was obsessed with surprises. Even their flat had been one. Draco hadn't got a clue of what it would have looked like.  
He had first set foot in it blindfolded by Harry's hands. Once the other boy had taken his hands off his eyes, the former Slytherin's mouth had dropped very low.  
It was what he had always dreamed about. A house that looked a lot like his common room at Hogwarts, but it was also quite chic. Plus, it was complete with a "brewing room" that Draco could have used to practice his potion making - his dream career was to become a potionist in Hogwarts. The place even had a small room for Viridis.  
"And besides, I don't think Ron and Mione are going to murder us if we're two minutes late!" Said Harry while unlocking the door.  
He came out looking extremely posh. His hair was drenched with gel, but it still looked a mess.  
"Ah, is this the surprise? You look like you're going to a _wedding_. You look even smarter than you did at your own wedding." Draco observed, after giving him a long lasting glance.  
"You like me elegant." Harry shrugged.  
The blond could only sigh in response.  
"I like you even when you look like trash - which is every day." He joked.  
Harry did the thing that his husband always found cute; he pretended to be offended. He gasped loudly, crossing his arms.  
"Hey. I would like to trade my hair with yours so that you could see how hard it is not to look like a homeless man!" He snapped.  
Draco giggled, all while putting his arms around his neck. "You're so cute when you get all fired up about your hair. I like it untamed, it's kind of hot." He said.  
"You're awful, why did I even marry you?" Harry playfully said. He wrapped his arms around his lover's middle while saying so.  
"Because I'm awesome." Draco responded. He then placed a chaste kiss on his husband's lips.  
Harry could only agree with it.  
After they parted, they disapparated to Ron and Hermione's house.

* * *

It was Ginny's birthday, so Hermione had offered her spacious flat that she shared with her husband and son to host the party.  
Luna and Ginny had just finished school at Hogwarts and they were still living at home with their respective parents.  
Luna had recently got a new family member, Miss Sivan had become her father's girlfriend, so she had moved in with the Lovegoods.  
Their last year in Hogwarts had been good, quite calm, but it had felt too weird without their friends.  
Ginny was often alone in her common room, but she had managed to make friends with some girls from her year.  
Sometimes, when she and Luna would go study under the big tree, she would turn around, laughing, thinking that she was addressing one of her friends.  
But, then, she'd always realise that she had been talking to no one.  
It hurt, but she managed to get through it, as well.  
The day she turned nineteen was very special to her, she would see her friends and brother again after months.  
The last time had been for Draco and Harry's birthday in Hogsmeade, that they celebrated on the same day.  
When the two girlfriends saw Ron and Hermione again, they screamed of joy and almost tackled them to the ground.  
Luna's grip on Hermione was really strong. She had missed her dearly.  
Ron flew his sister in the air for how happy he had been to see her. They had become closer over the last year and they had developed a very sweet friendship.  
Ginny was also very excited to see her nephew, little Hugo, who was now six months old.  
The little toddler had fiery red hair, just like his father, and Hermione's brown eyes.  
He was now able to crawl, something that his mother defined a nightmare.  
"Oh, he's become such a pest. He's uncontrollable, I swear I almost tripped on him once." The brunette whined.  
"Aw but he's just so cute!" Ginny squealed, then she picked her nephew up from the ground.  
"Wow, he's got heavy. And bigger!" She observed with a giggle.  
Hugo was really chill with his aunts, even if he didn't see them too often.  
"Ah give him to me now! I want to hold him and smell his head. Babies always smell good." Luna tittered.  
The redhead reluctantly passed him to her lover.  
Hugo definitely liked Luna more than Ginny, he loved playing with her butterbeer necklace.  
"Oh this must be them!" Said Ron, after he heard a loud "pop" coming from the entrance hall.  
"Guys, you're late!" Said Hermione as she rushed to the door to see her friends.  
"Hey Mione!" The two husbands said in unison, ignoring her reprimand.  
"Where is the Birthday Girl?" Said Draco, looking around to see if he could find her.  
As soon as Ginny heard their voices, she sped to where they were standing and pulled them both into a hug.

"Ah, my gay dads!" The redhead squealed playfully.

"Happy Birthday, Gin!" Harry managed to say through his friend's tight grip.

"Happy Birthday, gay daughter!" Draco chortled.

Luna emerged from the kitchen to walk towards her friends, little Hugo still in her arms, playing with her anti-nargle chain.

"Hey, casual Draco and ready for ceremony Harry!" the blonde girl greeted in her usual voice.

Harry pulled away from Ginny and went to say hi to Luna and Hugo.

"Oh, hey, Luna! I simply want to look my best, at all times." he said, while getting closer to her in order to hug her. "Aw, and hi Hugo!" he cooed, lightly touching the baby's nose with a finger.

"Hey, Lu, I missed you!" said Draco. Harry took Hugo from Luna so that his husband could hug her.

"I missed you too! Addie always talks about you two, guys. Even in class. She uses her officiation of your marriage as an example to educate students on homosexuality. You two were legends this year." The ex Ravenclaw stated.

"Addie? Oh, yeah, Miss Sivan!" said Draco, slapping his own head for not getting the reference straight away. "Tell he we miss her."

"Ok, now, if we're all set I think we can go on with the party." said Ron, motioning for everyone to follow him.

Ginny's birthday celebration was supposed to be a quiet gathering - Ron and Hermione having a child meant that they couldn't stay up all night or make too much noise.

They ended up dancing and blasting music all around the living room, all while making snacks and drinks fly into their mouths.

Hugo's small ears were protected by a spell, so that the noise wouldn't harm him.

The little boy seemed to enjoy being moved around from his parents to his uncles and aunts, his cute baby laughter confirming the theory.

Soon came time for cake and everyone moved to the kitchen, bringing their stereo with them. With a flick of his wand, Ron switched the music to "Happy Birthday".

Everyone began singing for Ginny, all while Hermione summoned the cake, which flew on the table.

It was made like the muggles would do, a recipe of Rosemary Granger.

It was her own version of the red velvet, it had golden edible glitter on top and it spelled 'Happy 19th Ginevra' with hardened golden frosting.

The Weasley girl was put as head of the table, while the others all sat around her.

On her left side she had her brother, her sister-in-law and Draco, who was holding her nephew.

On her right side sat her girlfriend and Harry.

Ron pulled out a magical camera, which he used in self portrait mode to capture the exact moment in which his sister blew her 19 shaped red candle.

"Ok now I'd say that before we cut the cake," Hermione began, giving Luna a look. "I think we should all say something about the Birthday girl here."

"I'll start!" Ron intervened, raising his hand in the air. "Well, Gin, you're my sister and I know we haven't always got along - we often fought and had our fair share of disputes, some of them even lasted long. But they were usually due to my protectiveness towards you. Ginny, I love you so much and I will forever be thankful to Mum and Dad for giving me a sister like you exactly nineteen years ago!"

When he finished, his sister gave him the most loving look ever. "Thank you, I love you too!" she said, squeezing her brother's hand lightly.

Hermione was the next one to speak. "Ginny, my partner in crime for our pranks on your bro here and my favourite sister-in-law, you are truly a blessing to this world. I love you so, so much and I hope the best for you in your life to come! I know you will do great things. I'm so lucky to have you by my side."

Ginny smiled widely. "I'm the lucky one here." she said.

"Mini Weasel... um... Ginny,"Draco mocked. "We certainly didn't start on the right foot, the two of us. Mostly because you were dating my man, but then we became close and formed this cute friendship that we now have. Thank you for telling the whole world about me and Harry, doing so you helped me overcome my insecurities and the fear of my father. But, mostly, thank you for being a little sister to me."

Draco had not talked to his parents in almost a year, but mentioning them didn't hurt anymore.

He had made peace with it.

Ginny shot him a warm smile. "Thank you, Slytherbitch." she joked.

Harry sat up from his heat to walk towards where Ginny was sitting, positioning himself behind her.

"Ginevra Weasley, my ex and now sister/daughter, I want to thank you for every memory that we have. I think the two of us have been through a lot, but I cherish every moment. You are very important to me, so I want to pull this muggle tradition on you. I have to pull your ear nineteen times, it's for luck."

"Oh, no!" Ginny shut her eyes tight, waiting for Harry to do what he'd said he'd have done. "Will it hurt?"  
Hermione shook her head.

Harry proceeded lightly tug on the girl's left year nineteen times. It didn't hurt, at all, Ginny observed.

He then kissed her cheek softly and went back to his seat.

It was now time for Luna to speak for her girlfriend.

"Dear Ginevra Weasley," she said, pulling out a piece of parchment from her pockets and starting to read it. "my love and best friend, ever since the day I met you, which was September 1st, 1992, I became mesmerized by you. You hit me like a tidal wave, honestly.

Your beauty and kindness made me want to befriend you, I thought that, maybe, you could help me keep the nargles and other beasts away. Now, I can say that you did. After many years of loving you silently, we finally merged together and became the super cute lesbians we are now.

In fact, 1999 New Year's Day was the best day of my life. You are the best girlfriend in the world, when you're not mad at me. I love you to death, your cupcake Lulu."

When Luna finished speaking, both girls were in tears. "I love you too!" Ginny said, then she took her girlfriend's face and pressed their lips together.

"Well, I hope you like this cake, Gin." said Hermione, trying to suppress a smirk. "You are going to cut it from here." she pointed to the first "P" from the writing.

Ginny pulled away from her girlfriend, then she summoned a knife and began slicing the pastry the way her sister in law instructed.

She put her own piece on a small, red plate, then she served it to everyone else in the room.

She felt a bit weird while digging her fork in her ration, as everyone was looking at her with held breaths.

When she took her first bite, she found out why.

She had bitten on something hard, so she spat in out.

"Oh Merlin!" she screamed, throwing the object on the table. She covered her mouth with her hands and her eyes widened in surprise.

It was a ring. It was made of gold and it sported a ruby.

The people in the room all looked at each other, then Luna got down on one knee.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you be my wife?" she asked.

Ginny was still incredulous, but she couldn't help letting out a joyful laugh.

"Yes, oh dear, yes! More than anything I will!" She squealed.

Her now fiancée got up and gave her a passionate kiss.

The others all cheered for them as the older girl put the ring on Ginny's freckled finger.

"Go, aunt Ginny!" said Draco, taking Hugo's hands into his and moving them up and down.

"You were accomplices, weren't you!" the redhead said once the shock died down.

"Guilty." said Harry, raising his shoulders. "Hence my fancy outfit."

"You guys are amazing! But Mione, your cake almost choked me!"

After the edible parts of the cake disappeared completely, Ginny had to open her presents.

"I doubt this will be better than the marvelous gift you received from Luna, but we, your friends got you something very special." Said Harry, grinning and nodding at his husband.

Draco gave the baby back to his mother and summoned a package.

It was quite big, almost as much as the table was.

The birthday girl frantically tore the wrapping apart to reveal its content, it was a bonsai version of their historic tree.

"Yes, this is our tree." said Draco, when Ginny turned around to face him.

"So that you can keep it as a memento of our study sessions which turned into a lot of fun under the tree in Hogwarts." Hermione added, beaming.

"Aw you guys are just so sweet!" Ginny murmured, feeling a little warm in the face.

"This way, it will always be with you." said Ron.

"Thank you, my loves! This will be my way of thinking of you every time I'll miss you." Ginny expressed.

When the people in the room gathered around her to embrace her fondly, Ginny felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

"I'm sure that we will be friends forever." Luna mused from inside of the hug.

Indeed, that was exactly how it turned out to be.

 _ **Fin**_.

 _ **A/N: So, yeah, this story (sadly) comes to an end. I had a blast writing it, I spent entire days on some of the chapters and I really hope it was worth it.**_

 _ **Tbh I never thought anyone would like it, but I was proven wrong. Thank you to everyone who loved it, your support means a lot to me!**_


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